Savior (Rewriting In-Process)
by Miss Celeste
Summary: When a trouble-making runaway teen winds up in a warehouse with a wrecked Bugatti, she takes it upon herself to repair it. Turns out, the Bugatti later takes it upon itself to repair her as well. In the midst of a fight for survival and escaping extinction, they embark on a journey of their own. One of understanding, acceptance and eventually...love. (AOE/Alt-Universe/DriftxOC)
1. Lost Cause

**TEMPORARY IMPORTANT NOTE: CURRENTLY, THIS STORY IS BEING REWRITTEN AND ALTERED, SO NEW READERS MAY NOTICE CHAPTERS NOT ALIGNING RIGHT AND THE STORY FEELING OFF. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF REWRITING AND UPDATING CHAPTERS, SO PLEASE EXCUSE EVERYTHING OFF YOU MAY SEE DURING THIS PROCESS. I WILL POST A NEW CHAPTER ONCE REWRITING IS COMPLETE, SO I RECOMMEND NEW READERS TO HAVE SAVIOR ON ALERT FOR WHEN I DO AND THE STORY CAN BE REREAD PROPERLY!**

 **THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.**

 **~Mexi**

 **Well hello kind people! I've had a horrible case of the plot bunnies lately… and this is the result.** **So, BEFORE YOU READ Let me just lay some stuff out. If you're impatient, bored or downright lazy than you may go right ahead to the story, but for those of you who are still reading, here's a few things you may or may not want to know:**

 **1\. This story will take place during Age of Extinction, so if you don't want to be spoiled, DON'T READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE! Thank you.**

 **2\. This is an AU, meaning alternate universe. I'm sure everyone knows that it's basically a rewritten canon. So this story starts from pre-Age of Extinction, during and then post.**

 **3\. The pairing, obviously, is Drift/OC. DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ. I noticed that there's always Optimus/OC, Bumblebee/OC, Sideswipe/OC/Sunstreaker or Ironhide/OC. Also, there's hardly any Age of Extinction AU stories. It's always the first movie, Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon. So since I love Drift and he hardly gets any love and I'm a sucker for rare pairings, I decided to give Drift the recognition he deserves.**

 **4\. Speaking of Drift, I used some G-1 elements regarding his past. I HIGHLY recommend looking up on him before you read in case you're unfamiliar with Drift, because unfortunately Michael Bay decided to butcher one of my favorite Transformers and there was literally NO hint of who he was and what his story was in the movie.**

 **5\. RATED FOR SWEARING!**

 **6.** **No Shane. I'm sorry for any of you who have a problem with that but just... no. He was just useless and annoying to me, so Aiko is going to take up some of his scenes and dialogue. I plan for her and Tessa to be close. I KNOW he helped Cade and Tessa escape, but let's just pretend they somehow got away from their house and managed to get away with Optimus.**

 **7.** **Tessa's attitude. She'll still have her dialogue, but now that I've kicked Shane, I plan for her to become less whiny, less of a shallow character, and more of someone who I think she should have been. She could have been a more enjoyable character if Bay didn't make her so... clingy to Shane and distant from her father. The closest I can compare her new characterization to is Mikaela, someone who doesn't constantly cry and complain about everything and does more to the story than just be eyecandy for male viewers.**

 **8\. A** **s an Alternate Universe story with an OC kinda replacing one of the characters, the movie is going to be altered around a little. Not only because I have to make way for Aiko, but because I want to mix things up. We've all seen the movie and we expect the same old things to happen. Of course, the plot and general story will be the same, but there's going to be extra scenes, extra dialogue, and alternate twists in my version of Age of Extinction.**

 **9.** **Since I'm making changes to the movie, Drift is definitely going to be MUCH more involved in the movie. There are multiple scenes where he just plain disappears for no reason, so I'm going to make sure he keeps a consistent and reasonable appearance through my AOE rewrite. This means that he'll have more dialogue, more purpose, and he'll be doing more stuff with the group other than just being in the background... or not at all.**

 **10.** **The Autobots are going to be a bit more aggressive when we first get to them, not only towards Aiko, but to each other. This includes Drift and even Bumblebee. I say this because some may think I'm making everyone OOC, but that's intentional. The Autobots have been betrayed, hunted, and have been forced to run and hide for a full 4 years. They're stressed, pissed off, hurt, and afraid, so everyone is bound to be irritable, angrier, distrustful and prone to breaking their character to snap and fight one another.**

 **That's it for my notes! Guys, please PLEASE let me know what you thought of it! Did you like it? Didn't like it? What did you love and/or what did you hate? You can flame as long as it doesn't concern the WARNINGS I just applied! Even the tiniest of reviews would make me SO happy because it will show me I didn't waste all this time writing this out. Just tell me what you thought of it! I'm counting on you! ^^**

 **I OWN NOTHING BUT MY OC! And now... the official summary of my story. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you...**

 _ **Savior**_

 _ **There was so much more to them that no one would never understand...**_

 _ **When a trouble-making runaway teen winds up in a warehouse with a wrecked Bugatti, she takes it upon herself to repair it. Turns out, the Bugatti later takes it upon itself to repair her as well. Two lost souls searching for a place where they can belong, a place where the brutal past cannot haunt them anymore. As Fate calls upon them and their paths intertwine, they face some of the most difficult obstacles; some in the real world, and others in the depths of their own blackened conscience. As a young girl, who looks upon her cruel world with her spiteful hate, makes the choice to aid an emotionally shattered Transformer, who struggles to overcome both the evil within and around him, they learn the importance of communication and trust. In the midst of a fight for survival and escaping extinction, they embark on a journey of their own. One of understanding, acceptance, and eventually...love.**_

 _ **And they shall realize that, even in their most darkest hour, they will always have someone there to help them along the impassioned, painful road of recovery. They will always have someone who will lead them from the dark and into the light.**_

 _ **They will always have a Savior...**_

 _"…You are my savior…"_

 _"…And you are mine…"_

* * *

 _Oh, dig my shallow grave..._

 _'Cause it's not me you'll save, 'cause I'm a lost cause..._

 _I'm a lost cause..._

 _A lost, lost cause..._

 _~ Lost Cause - Imagine Dragons_

* * *

 _"Calling all Autobots! We are under targeted attack! Cease all contact with humans!"_

The message replayed in an endless loop within the back of Drift's processors. If not for his current situation, it all would have been funny; to be hunted down by such a young and inexperienced species. To be having to run from such small beings he could crush underfoot. That one part of Drift -the part of him that he hated with a passion- felt thrilled about this 'hunt'.

Old instincts began to kick in… instincts that the mech desperately tried to keep locked away.

He used to love deadly hunts; because there was a time _he_ was the hunter. And even if he wasn't, he used to love toying with those who thought they had a chance against him. The memories ceased to flow through him, the feeling of that blind-battle rage he had developed after thousands of years of war… the rush of thrill he got from slaying anything and everything around him back on his home planet. He had felt _alive_ in those times… more alive than he had in a long time.

Now, he was feeling alive again. But this time was different, because for the first time in his ever-long life… he was afraid. _He_ was the one being truly hunted this time. The fear coursed through him in searing hot adrenaline. For once, he felt cornered and utterly helpless, feelings Drift hadn't felt since-

 **BOOM!**

A missile exploded mere feet from his frame, the sheer heat scorching his once pristine white armor. A low grunt escaped his intake, emitting a few bubbles. Teal-blue optics narrowed, gazing at the surface of the lake he was currently hiding in as his audio receptors picked up the thrumming of helicopters and the occasional swoop of the attack planes. Drift crouched against the bottom of the water, ready to make an escape had they realized their target was right under their noses.

Figures. Humans can be dangerous enough to slaughter Cybertronians, yet they lack the intelligence to be able to track them.

Joints locked and Energon pumped through his systems. Drift knew he was swift and skilled at hiding–it was one of his best talents- but as the airborne automobiles continued to circle around the area where they had lost him, the Autobot began to feel more and more apprehensive. It felt like hours before he finally watched the planes make one last loop and fly away, the helicopters following close behind.

Drift waited a good half hour before daring to break the surface of the water and scan the area with wary optics. The samurai let out a shaky sigh as he stood up fully, the lake deep enough to cover him up to his shoulders. It was a full moon that night, the moonlight glistening over the lake and shining over Drift's white armor. He needed a new alternative mode badly, an Earth vehicle to help him hide. That was the third ambush that day, the closest call he had yet.

While he waded his way out of the lake, Drift pressed two nervous digits on his left audio receptor, activating his communication link. The samurai checked behind him every few seconds, the paranoia refusing to leave him. He would never admit it for the life of him, but this was the first time Drift was legitimately frightened in a very long time. Scared of puny humans, who would have thought?

Although, to be fair, they proved to be not so puny the moment Drift nearly got his helm blown off in his first encounter with them.

 _"This is Autobot Drift, does anyone copy?"_

Nothing.

 _"Calling all Autobots. This is Drift, copy?"_

Again, he was met with nothing but static.

Drift swore under his breath, something he rarely did anymore. Using the World Wide Web he gained access to upon arriving, the Autobot used it to determine his current location while he walked through the woods. In a matter of minutes, he was finally able to pinpoint his general area; a wooded area somewhere in California. A wooded area close to a city, since Drift could pick up the distant Earth vehicles driving and the occasional blare of a horn.

Whether it was a ridiculous idea that could cost him his life or not, Drift decided to head in that direction. It was a risk he needed to take in order to stay alive any longer; he needed to acquire a preferable vehicular mode to travel and run away faster.

Running away… Drift never thought he would find himself doing such a thing ever again.

He crept forward as quietly as possible, still slightly shaken from the last ambush with that hunting squadron who Drift had figured out called themselves Cemetery Wind. Wasn't hard to figure it out, since they were advertised all over the internet. It made Drift scowl, seeing them in multiple reports and websites and considering themselves "alien hunters" or "alien exterminators". Eventually Drift reached the end of the woods, crouched low and far enough so that his optics did not attract attention.

A city stretched out before him, starting with an empty road with a parking lot across from it. The Autobot felt his white armor bristle against his protoform, seeing a rather large group of humans in the lit lot. What caught his attention, however, was the amount of unique Earth vehicles laid out before him. In any other situation, it would have been a Cybertronian's lucky day. Drift concluded that it was one of those 'car shows', when the more wealthy ones got together to show off their prized possessions.

The samurai zoomed his optics in a little more, trying to use the internet to help him identify the automobiles. There were some American-made cars –muscle cars he had learned- such as those Ford Mustangs or Chevrolet Camaros along with Challengers and the like. And then there were the exotic ones, the ones Drift personally preferred. A couple Ferraris, a McLaren here and there, Lamborghinis and some other various ones Drift didn't feel like bothering with.

He was too busy trying to think of a way to sneak in and scan one of those beauties. When he turned and noticed a more common car driving down the road, Drift got an idea.

The humans, it seemed, had all gone into the bar connected to the parking lot. Any others still out were too caught up in conversations about their cars to notice a white Ford Fusion roll in slowly. It paused for a short moment, taking in the sight of the sports cars. Drift would have chosen the closest one and then split, but found himself looking them up, calculating which ones were faster as he rolled by.

Ferrari 458? Red wasn't exactly his favorite color. Not to mention that it was easy to see.

Lamborghini Aventador? Upwards doors… he didn't want doorwings.

McLaren P1? Body style was a little too exotic for him. Easy to spot.

Drift knew he couldn't stay there forever, and he was about to choose randomly when he spotted black and blue at the end of the parking lot. There, gleaming in the street lights, was a shiny black and blue Bugatti Veyron. It was the only car of its type, parked at the far end with a big "DO NOT TOUCH" sign slapped on the inside of the windshield.

 _Yes… that's the one._

"HEY!" a voice called, "This is a car show, buddy! Sports cars only! If you wanna look, you gotta park somewhere else!"

A man walked up next to the Fusion, a less than pleased look on his face. He crossed his arms when he received no answer or movement from the car, "What's your problem, man? You hear what I said? Unless you got a fancy car, parking here is off-limits!"

When no one answered still, the man pounded a fist against the dim window, "Hey, I'm talking to you-"

A light blue beam flickered from the Ford and swept over the sleek blue and black car, and within moments, the man's fist was no longer on a white Fusion, but an exact clone of the Bugatti. The human let out a surprised yelp as the 'clone' lurched forward, skidding in a U-turn before speeding away. This had caught the attention of the rest of the people there, who stared wide-eyed at what just transpired.

The man whirled around, "Someone call the cops! It's one of _them_! One of those _aliens_!"

It was only a matter of hours before Drift used his new rear view mirrors to see a group of black cars trailing behind him on the highway. He had trouble focusing from the stings of bullets grazing him, but the fleeing Autobot did not fail to notice a single black car gaining on him as it sped from the squadron. Only when it managed to get closer did Drift see the right fender retract, the metal folding in and then popping back out with missiles.

 _Is that…?_

Drift never got to finish that thought; all he could remember in that moment was the searing fiery pain in his sides as he fled from the explosions erupting everywhere around him. Meanwhile, at the car show, the red Ferrari 458 quietly rumbled to life. It waited a little while before silently sneaking out of the parking lot, undetected.

* * *

A sharp breath escaped clenched teeth, a small puff of air escaping chapped lips. Fingers tightened around a bag heavy bag strap. Brown eyes darted around the alley as she slowly inhaled, taking in the light stench of her surroundings. She then slumped back against the grubby wall she was leaning on, exhaling once again and watching her breath disappear into the air with a wary expression.

She watched, disinterested, as the dark alley thrived with people who were shunned from the public. They all gathered here almost every night, proceeding to do all the activities that were either illegal or considered disgraceful by normal people. Normal.

Aiko Yueming hated that word.

The nineteen-year-old ran an unoccupied hand through her thick black locks, feeling a massive migraine coming on. She then shoved the hand into the pocket of her black leather jacket, watching all the commotion before her. A brawl was going on here and there while others were gathered around one another, distrustfully handing out cash in exchange for illegal substances that they craved. Aiko may be street-bound, but she wasn't senseless enough to do _that_ shit.

Instead, she hung around as one of the loners, trying to remember why the hell she was alive in the first place. Her life sucked; sure, she may have what most of the others around here didn't, but that didn't mean she liked it. Her police record can support that notion. It was a wonder why she wasn't behind bars yet.

Or maybe it wasn't. She was not sure.

Either way, her wits were what kept her just out of reach of the police and that was all that mattered.

Nothing was going to stop her from what she was so desperately looking for.

Just when Aiko leaned down to grab her bag and split, a siren wailed a little ways away. A noise she was far too familiar with in all of her house-breaking, store-robbing life. All at once, the street-punks screeched and spread out like ants, some even crashing into each other as they scrambled to escape being caught in their doings. At the opposite end of the alley, Aiko could see two pairs of blaring red and blue lights hastily approaching.

"Shit." She growled, hauling her bag over her shoulder and dodging a few stragglers coming her way. The teenager bolted as fast as she could, shoving past the people fumbling around due to their ingestion of drugs, and successfully exited the alley. Aiko briefly wondered if it was either the police report surely filed on her or someone who reported the location that drew the cops, but she immediately put that thought away as she heard the sirens wail again.

If it was the police report, she'll have to hide; something Aiko was exceptionally good at.

She darted through the alleyways, her black hair flowing behind her. Being the street-punk she was, she had these streets memorized. Unfortunately, so did the police. Aiko bit her lip, stopping after crossing over an empty street to take in her surroundings. There were a bunch of connected stores and restaurants, closed because of the late time. Then, her eyes darted over to her left, spotting the rusty iron gates poorly guarding an abandoned warehouse.

Aiko looked back and forth quickly before sprinting once again. She reached forward, grabbing hold of the gates and searching for any potential opening. She frowned when she heard those sirens again and ran alongside it, swiftly sliding behind an old building nearby. With her back pressed firmly to the brick, she cautiously turned her head around a corner and stole a glance at the street. There, she could see a single police car rolling down her way, headlights coming closer.

 _Those fuckers just don't give up, do they?_

She whipped back around and scanned the area, looking for anywhere else to hide. Then, she saw it. Up ahead, she could see the gates busted wide open, bent backwards in a way that showed her that a vehicle had plowed through. Aiko gripped her bag firmly and ran. The car was far enough away that she could run right through and hide behind the storage trailers around the warehouse.

Then, as she turned sharply to run through the opening, the asphalt suddenly turned slick underneath her.

Aiko yelped as she slipped and fell forward, just barely stopping herself from hitting her head by throwing her hands up. A low grunt escaped her lips and she snapped her eyes open to see what she slipped on. With her face pressed sideways, she had a lopsided view of a strange bright blue liquid. The teenager furrowed her eyebrows in evident confusion, but then she remembered her situation and jumped up, infiltrating the abandoned property and lunging behind the first storage trailer she could reach.

Aiko bit her lip, her entire body tense while listening to the hum of the tuned up police car. Then, after a few excruciatingly long minutes of waiting, she turned her head and watched the cruiser drive down the street and around a corner. Her body finally relaxed with a relived sigh, and then she walked forward and towards the old warehouse.

Her first intention was to find a way to break in, but it would seem that someone else had the same idea.

When Aiko approached it, she was a bit astonished to find a gaping hole in one of the closed garage doors. Well, she definitely wasn't going to complain about that. However, what really caught her eye were the streaks of that same blue liquid smeared on the concrete floor. A sense of apprehension washed over her. Something about that weird-ass substance didn't feel right. Aiko knelt down and examined it once she entered the large building, deciding it would be better to not touch it.

"The hell…" she mumbled to herself, "What is this?"

The teenager tore her gaze away from the floor and looked up, brown eyes dilating a bit at what was strewn out before her. Large metal shelves had been knocked down, the remainder of boxes and items left behind spilled out over the floor. Curious and admittedly nervous, Aiko approached the heap of various spare parts, carefully stepping over them and looking over the massive mess. She stopped abruptly, sliding off her bag and pulling out a flashlight.

Once she clicked it on, she navigated through, looking for possible things to salvage for later use. Although, the chances were low, considering she had no real use for tools and random parts that she couldn't even begin to guess belonged to. But then, kicking away a couple boxes, she was drawn to the bright gleam of blue. Covered in more random items was the unmistakable form of a car.

Aiko hurried over to it quickly. If she were lucky, she could get the thing started.

With one clean swipe of her arm, she cleared the hood of the black and blue car. From there, Aiko pushed off the rest of the objects in urgency, her heavy breathing taking in the cool night air. The smooth metal was dented and she was surprised to see clean holes piercing it. Bullet holes, by the look of it.

"Oh my fucking God." Aiko breathed, standing back to take a good look at what she uncovered, "It's a Bugatti."

A goddamn _Bugatti_ _Veyron_.

Who in their right mind leaves a Bugatti in a warehouse? One of the most expensive cars in the world?

But then again, she wasn't going to complain about this either. _Hell_ to the no!

The teenager was instantly glad she was in a warehouse now. With the right tools and a little hotwiring, she could get this baby up and running, damaged or not! But of course, she had to see what was wrong with it first. Perks of being around illegal street racers from time to time. They teach you how to deal with cars.

Quick and experienced fingers slid over the dented driver's door, curling around the handle and giving it a hard tug. Aiko watched, intrigued as the exotic car's door opened easily for her. What threw her off even more, however, was when she heard little _clinks_ of empty bullet shells spilling out of the floorboard and onto the concrete. A terse hum left her lips, reaching down to pick one up and spin it in her fingers.

 _This car had been shot at…_

Sure, she heard of guys taking out unused cars and practicing their shooting aim with it… but no one would _ever_ shoot up a Bugatti. Besides, no one in this town had guns that had ammo this large. Aiko dropped the bullet shell, a thought popping into her mind. Then, as if something switched in her mind, she suddenly remembered the news and radio stations repeating over and over…

 _Suspect alien activity? Please call this number!_

 _Report any alien activity immediately!_

 _Reports say that surviving aliens are most likely hiding among the public as common vehicles or in secluded areas! If you see any suspicious or driverless vehicles, please contact Cemetery Wind at…_

 _Witnesses say aliens often choose sports cars or any vehicle that can obtain high speeds! Please, report anything suspicious to Cemetery Wind, using the number below!_

The teenager took a careful step back as two strange symbols she had seen on the news flashed in her head… one of them matching the one placed in the middle of the Bugatti's grille. _If you see either of these symbols on a vehicle, immediately run and report the vehicle! Anything possessing these symbols is alien and should be destroyed as soon as possible! Please, your call can help protect our world from extraterrestrials!_

In that moment, she knew what she had found was more than one of the most expensive cars in the world. It was more like one of the most _dangerous_ cars in the world. She could run and report it right now, while it was seemingly unconscious. She could be rewarded with a couple thousand dollars and dodge another arrest for trespassing. She could be viewed as a hero even for saving the town and helping the world have one less _savage_ to deal with.

 _Do it._ A tiny voice whispered to her _. It can change your shitty fate. You can end up with some real money. You can have a real life._

But, whether it was for the better or for the worse, Aiko was never one to listen. Besides… weren't there aliens who fought _for_ them? Weren't there two different factions, hence those two symbols spread all over the news? Aiko could remember watching about the Battle of Chicago, about the good ones- the Autobots- fighting off the bad ones. Decepticons, right?

 _Autobots… didn't they have the red symbol?_

Quite honestly, Aiko didn't care. If the damn thing woke up and killed her, then so be it. Her dark eyes scanned the area with her flashlight. The teenager sighed and picked up a nearby wrench, putting it in her mouth carelessly as she hooked her fingers under the hood and lifted it up. She was met with steam, as if the engine had overheated. That wasn't really surprising, considering all the evidence on this thing pointed toward the fact that it had probably escaped a run with that Cemetery Wind.

She almost laughed, thinking about how similar her situation was.

"Alright, alien." She murmured, shining he flashlight over the damage, "Let's get you up and running."


	2. Hero

_I need a hero, (To save me now)..._

 _I need a hero (Save me now!)..._

 _I need a hero, to save my life..._

 _A hero will save me..._

 _(Just in time...)_

 _~Hero - Skillet_

* * *

Three days of stealing and fixing later was when Aiko received some interesting results. She was jogging back to the warehouse after stealing some supplies from a gas station when she paused just before the door. It was very early in the morning, and so the building was a bit dark. But she didn't need to see in order to know what was going on inside when a long, drawn out sound rumbled deep within.

She hid on the side of the hole in the garage door, listening closely. It was silent for a good five minutes, and Aiko was beginning to think she was just imagining things –possibly from having too many cigarettes- when she heard it; a low, strained groan.

Very, very slowly, she pressed her ear against the door and stood, waiting for something more to confirm her suspicions.

Another groan, this one sounding strangely guttural.

And then, she nearly jumped ten feet in the air when the warehouse suddenly erupted with all kinds of noises. Metal shifting and grinding, hydraulics whirring and hissing, parts clicking and clinging together… and a raspy grunt followed by yet another deep groan. It sounded… painful.

Aiko peered into the gaping hole and had to slap a hand over her mouth to avoid uttering a sound. She could see the outline of a massive figure in the dark, illuminated by the rising sun's light peeking through the holes and crevices of the old building. It was on its hands and knees, the entire form shaking and straining to keep itself upright. The teenager narrowed her eyes, trying to get a clearer view of the alien but to no avail. She wanted so badly to shine her flashlight on it and see the magnificent creature, but held herself back.

The alien's head was drooping between shivering shoulders, that much she could tell. Two teal-blue lights that she figured functioned as the eyes were trained downward. All was silent, except for the occasional grind of metal and the shaky vents escaping the alien. Aiko frowned and felt her heart drop despite herself. Humans… _humans_ had done this to it. From what she had heard, these things were always holding their head up in pride, never showing weakness and always staying strong no matter what the situation.

Yet here one was now, head down, perfectly vulnerable and looking utterly helpless.

This is what her horrible race had done to beings far more intelligent and powerful than they will ever be. It made her sick, and it was then that she decided to be the only one to make a difference. _Fuck_ the government, she never liked them anyways. If she got a death sentence for helping it, she wouldn't give two shits.

However, when she accidentally dropped her bag, the creature snapped its head up in an instant. Aiko whirled around quickly, hoping that it didn't see her. Metal grinded again, like it shifted and froze… and then silence. Moments later, she heard those same noises as before; the whirring and shifting and clicking until everything went silent again. Slowly, the teenager twisted her head around in time to see the alien fold down into the same Bugatti Veyron she had been repairing for the past couple days. Light flickered underneath the hood for a split second before it fell dark.

Aiko grabbed her bag and ran in, halting a yard or two away, "You moved."

It sat there quietly, just like any other vehicle would have.

"I _saw_ you!" She hissed, swiftly reaching into her bag and tugging out her flashlight, "You… _transformed_!"

With a small click, yellow light engulfed the front of the exotic car. Suspicious and suddenly brave, Aiko stepped forward and stopped in front of the driver's door. Out of curiosity, she wrapped her fingers around the handle but did not pull… testing it. On impulse, the thing made the mistake of assuming she was going to open it and swung the door open for her… just what Aiko had expected. She removed her hand and crossed her arms at the empty interior.

"I knew it." She said lowly, "You _did_ change. You're one of them, aren't you? A Transformer?"

The Bugatti's hydraulics whined as it sank down lower, a sign that it finally knew it was caught. Aiko reached out to touch the open door, but it snapped shut before she could. The car shuddered and the engine kicked up, revving and struggling to start.

It never did.

The teenager stood back, watching the alien desperately force itself to start and continuously fail. At first she wondered why it didn't just transform and run off, but then she remembered seeing it kneeling, huffing and groaning as a robot. _The engine's a part of it. It can't run because it's in pain in either form._

Aiko held her hands up, and was surprised when the motion seemed to startle the thing as it stopped revving and sat there, trembling. It seemed to draw in on itself, sinking low enough that the undercarriage was almost touching the ground. The tires twitched slightly, she assumed from either fear or the extra weight it was putting on itself. "It's okay. I'm not going to report you, if that's what you're worried about."

The trembling eased down in the tiniest way.

She bit her lip, stepping back in attempt to make it feel a little better. The headlights flickered briefly, making her flinch. But nothing else happened. It never attempted to attack her. It never chose transform. It just sat there, crouched like a cornered animal and visibly leaning away from her. It was just pitiful, what this once incredible being had been degraded into.

"You… you can't move, can you?" Aiko asked carefully, her gaze lowering to the bullet shells still scattered around and the holes and scratches marring the body, "You're immobile, you're all alone and you're hurt…"

 _And scared. You're very scared._

Aiko's mind began to race. She could still report this… and the reward could very well be worth it. It could be all she needed to get her shit back together. On the other hand… the alien never once tried to harm her in any way, even if it was likely unconscious up until now. It was sitting there staring at her with evident fear, helplessly awaiting its fate. It was at her mercy; she could do _anything_ to it right now, and it would be too weak and in too much pain to do anything about it.

No, it wasn't right. It was a frightened and injured creature, and turning it in to people who would kill it was just wrong. Even if she wanted to, Aiko wasn't heartless enough to do such a thing.

The teenager gripped the flashlight a little tighter, then she moved so that she was up next to the hood, "Okay, let's try this; I'll ask some questions and you'll answer with those headlights. Flash them once for yes, flash them twice for no. You understand?"

A long pause followed, one long enough that Aiko thought it might not understand English (which was plausible, considering it was an alien). Then, there was a single flash.

She let out a relieved sigh and then proceeded with her first question, "Okay um… are you a Decepticon?"

An instant two flashes.

"So you're an Autobot?"

One flash. Good, it really _was_ one of the friendly ones.

"Can you move at all?"

A short pause, and then two flashes.

"Are you in pain?"

One flash.

"Are there any others around here?"

This time, it didn't answer at all. Instead, the tires twitched again. Aiko tilted her head, "You don't know, do you?"

Two flashes.

She flicked her eyes down in thought for a second before asking, "I can tell you understand me but… can't you talk?"

Another short pause followed before she received two flashes, not failing to notice the one-minute gap between them. Aiko nodded slowly, "Okay well, I've been working on you for a couple days if you haven't noticed. I think I know why you can't move; your engine overheated. That, and there's probably some bullets lodged in your motor. You were running from Cemetery Wind, weren't you?"

One flash.

"Of course…" She sighed, "The bastards. Listen, I want to start working on you again. Is that okay?"

Another hesitant flash.

"Okay." Aiko turned off her flashlight, no longer needing it with the sun rising, and grabbed a nearby car jack. She rolled it over to the Bugatti, who jerked itself higher up on its axles when she slid it underneath the front bumper, trying its hardest to not touch it. The girl almost laughed, but instead let a smile curve her lips, "Calm down, it's just a car jack. All it does is lift you up so that I can get up underneath. You know, so I can fix you."

A few tense minutes passed until the car slowly eased its way back down to its normal level, pressing down lightly over the car jack. Aiko gripped the handle and pushed down, thankful for her time with her father, for once. He had taught her all she needed to know about repairing vehicles, and so she grew up with greasy fingers and toned muscles from dealing with heavy parts.

Once she had the front end lifted enough and making sure it didn't harm the Transformer in any way, she went over to the pile of tools she had gathered and grabbed a skateboard –she had nabbed it yesterday. It wasn't really something comfortable to lie on, but it was better than nothing. Gathering up a bunch of tools, she scooted up underneath and began her work, muttering words of comfort whenever the car twitched.

Aiko had spent the entire day doing whatever she could for the Transformer. The teenager spent hours carefully rummaging through its tender undercarriage, removing bullets stuck in it and steadily repairing the damaged motor. By the end of the day, she had thoroughly checked the underside, shoving aside the metal pan filled with bullets. She hauled herself up and went over to her bag, pulling out a bottle of water and pouring it over her hands while maneuvering a stolen soap bar between her fingers to remove the grease stains on her skin. "All right, I got those bullets out. Feel any better?"

It replied with one flash, making Aiko smile ever so slightly, "That's good. The only thing left I can do is tweak that engine a little bit and hope it starts. I'm good at fixing cars though, not aliens, y'know?"

She was answered by a distorted humming noise coming from the car's radio. The girl whirled around, eyebrows furrowed at the strange sound continuing to buzz from the Transformer. It almost sounded strained, if anything, and it was _clearly_ not music.

 _Is it… is it trying to communicate with me?_

"Stop that." She snapped unexpectedly, "It sounds like it's hurting you."

The buzzing stopped, and Aiko sighed before gazing up into one of the holes in the ceiling, seeing the sunset's light seeping through. "I'm gonna go grab some more stuff. I'll be back later, are you going to be okay?"

 _It's crippled, Aiko. You dumbshit. Not like it's gonna go take a drive anytime soon._

The Bugatti flashed its headlights and sank a little lower on its axles, as if it were settling itself down as much as comfortably as it could in its haggard state. It watched the human female sneak out of the warehouse silently, leaving it wondering why it suddenly felt so lifeless and afraid again without her presence.


	3. Awake and Alive

_I'm awake! (I'm alive!)_

 _Now I know what I believe inside!_

 _Now, It's my time!_

 _I'll do what I want, 'cause this is my life!_

 _Here! (Right here!)_

 _Right now! (Right now!)_

 _I'll stand my ground and never back down!_

 _I know what I believe inside!_

 _I'm awake and I'm alive!_

 _~Awake and Alive - Skillet_

* * *

She had to admit, they fucked up this thing's engine pretty bad.

Overheating was an understatement. Aiko couldn't even begin to imagine what happened to the alien that resulted in the monstrosity she was faced with. Sure, the undercarriage needed some rearranging and she had to fix the motor, but the engine was just a hot mess… literally. It hadn't escaped her notice that its hide was covered in not only holes, but scrapes and scratches. Like it had been in a tumble.

It was a wonder how it was still alive.

At least she finally found out what that blue stuff was. Or at least, what she _thought_ it was. The substance seeped through the damaged areas of the engine and out of cut wires. Blood, almost. She did her best to not touch it, considering it was probably toxic. Poisonous alien blood? No thanks.

She also noticed how hollowed out the engine felt. It was locked up tight, forcing her to only work around the outside. Maybe she was just crazy or a little too creative-minded for her own good, but it struck her as some sort of casing. Like a chest, guarding something sacred and hidden deep under the mysterious shell that was the Transformer itself.

The thing was still easily frightened, like it was a tiny timid creature rather than a monstrous mechanical being.

At times it felt like she was being constantly watched, and any harsh movements would make it visibly tense. Tires tucking under it and everything. It never let her touch it except for repairs. One time she just tried to lean on it and it decided to introduce her face to the floor with the door. Needless to say she gladly gave it some space afterwards. She was sure that intenerate words will eventually earn her a little more trust.

Then there was the time she wanted to try and figure out just what was in that engine.

It was the day after she first witnessed its transformation. A little convincing and promising rewarded her with the mangled mess beneath the Bugatti's hood. She disentangled what she could in diurnal hours, carefully mending parts together until she could distinguish what goes where. Only when she got a clear view of the scorched engine did she stop. A curiosity snaked its way before all other thoughts. Aiko noticed a crack in it and reached forward, fingers coiling around the edges and prying open with legerity.

She was met with bright blue light. The sight only lasted a few seconds, but what she could make out was a globular object cackling and sparking within, electricity cracking and striking angrily at the invasion of its 'protection'. It was magnificently brilliant.

The sight was short, because the Transformer's radio buzzed on and it _shrieked_.

A horrid, high-pitched noise that seared into her sensitive eardrums and ringed through her head. She screamed out in something between shock and pain as she snapped back until she fell back on the ground, hands gripping at her ears in poor attempt to save them. Vaguely she could see movement, but she was far too dazed to notice even after the screech stopped.

Instead, it was replaced by shelves being knocked over and a lot of monstrous crashes. A few moments passed, and Aiko finally had recovered enough to look up through the agonizing headache she acquired. Brown eyes widened at a pair of teal lights staring right back at her. It was nighttime, the only form of light coming from the moonlight seeping through the holes of the warehouse. But with it, she could make out the unmistakable form of the Transformer , scrambling back until it slammed into the wall so hard she was afraid it would crumble.

For a moment she just stared, trying to comprehend what had happened.

Then she realized; it was gripping its chest armor, metal arms crossed around it protectively as the Transformer stared at her with an expression she couldn't identify in the darkness. Teal light from the eyes only slightly illuminated facial features, but not enough to get a good enough look. She didn't need to. The constant clank of metal from the Transformer's armor as it trembled was enough evidence of what it was feeling.

She had _terrified_ it.

Aiko shot up in an instant, and then stopped, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Dealing with traumatized humans were one thing. Traumatized aliens were something else entirely. What was she supposed to do? What did she _even_ do? Did she harm it and scare it away by delving a little deeper into its anatomy? She must have… perhaps that electrical thing was something sensitive and vulnerable that nothing was supposed to get to, considering how complexly guarded it was.

"I'm sorry!" She blurted out, taking scrupulous steps forward, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

The Transformer jerked, reaching for something behind its back. There was a conspicuous sound of metal sliding against metal. Teal optics dimmed, but the girl felt her heart jump to her throat when the moonlight shone over the unmistakable shape of a massive weapon it its grip. She took a step back, then darted for her life when the weapon was flung across the warehouse.

She ducked down in the nick of time; the blade-like weapon hit the large shelves behind her, knocking them over and scattering their contents in a loud _CRASH_!

Aiko grunted, falling over like everything around her until it all quieted down into a rigid silence. Huffing, the teenager pushed herself up, peeking around the knocked over shelves. The Transformer had a second weapon in its grip, those wide teal eyes staring her down even from a distance. She knew what this was; a defense mechanism. It was scared, distrustful and injured. Stuck with a specimen whose entire race wanted it dead. And now it was lashing back, going from that timid creature to an agonized predator. There were two ways this could go…

One, she come back out and get a monstrous sword to the face.

Two, she stay there until the thing decided to finish the job.

Neither were very promising.

A tense minute passed, until an exasperated sigh escaped her, "Fuck it…"

Aiko stepped from her cover, hands up, face as neutral as possible. She half expected it to attack, but instead it shifted, vents hissing like a snake. Recoiling and daring her to come any closer for it to strike. She first took an important note before deciding to do anything; this thing was armed. Injured, but not completely defenseless. Rumor had spread that those who witnessed one of the past battles saw that Transformers had some massive energy guns and some other bizarre weapons.

She'd rather not find out if this one had some other things up its sleeve.

"Hey…" she said so softly, she wasn't sure if it actually heard her. She attempted to try a more cultivated approach, hoping it'd be enough, "Hey, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to scare you. Did I hurt you?"

Sweet talk wasn't her best skill, but she'd have to make it work is she were to get anywhere near it again.

Aiko was mildly surprised when it actually put down the second sword, reaching back up to secure its chest armor, which she had realized was the whole front end of its Bugatti disguise. Clearly that was where she had accidentally violated it. Unruly as the Transformer was, she took the chance to step forward, and when it didn't move, she took another. All the while she persued the distance, she spoke softly, delicately, as if she were talking to a petrified child. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you… I promise…"

The closer she got, the more uncomfortable it became, shifting against the wall more and more. It hadn't attacked her… not yet anyway. Deciding not to test fate, she stopped a few yards away, a part of her mesmerized by how incredibly large the Transformer really was. Teal eyes shimmered in the dark, gazing down at her with less anxiety and more interest. A good sign.

"Listen to me, okay? I don't know what I did, but I'm so sorry." She said, "If I hurt you, I won't do it again. I promise. Maybe that might not mean much to you but… it's true. I really want to help you, but I can't do that if you decide to push me away."

The blue orbs angled, like it tilted its head to the side.

"I won't hurt you again…" she whispered, now only a few feet away.

Whether it was her words or her genuine tone, it was enough to regain whatever small amount of trust they had established before. The Transformer did nothing for a moment, and then it lifted an arm, causing her to tense and prepare to make a run for it. However, the arm went down and extended towards her slowly, carefully, until it opened its hand palm up. Larger fingers extended outwards to her, reaching out to her. It took her a moment to realize what this gesture was; a sign that it understood… an unsaid meaning demonstrated by the offering.

 _I forgive you._

Aiko smiled, relief washing her over. The teenage stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure. So it forgave her, but what was she supposed to do now? There was an endless loop of possibilities presented to her should she decide to reach out herself. Would it let her? Should she do it? Would it shy away again?

She wasn't allowed to touch it unless for repairs, after all.

But those eyes, they showed so much more emotion than she would have ever thought possible from an alien robot. She could see its feelings; confident yet afraid… unsure yet reassured. It _wanted_ her to reach out; despite the nervousness she knew it still had. So she complied with the silent request, lifting a reverent arm. Small fingers ghosted over one large one and she snapped back when it flinched. But the arm didn't retract, only hesitating a moment until it reached back out, urging her on. Aiko paused for a moment to look into those brilliant glistening orbs before she released the breath she didn't realize she was holding and pressed a soft hand to the index finger.

For a moment, she wondered if this was the first physical contact between man and machine that didn't symbolize death and destruction since the Battle of Chicago.

So she gently rubbed the sooth metal, intrigued by the feel of living skin against living metal. It was surprisingly warm to the touch, and she realized it was similar to herself. Cold meant death. Dead skin meant a dead human and likewise cold metal meant a dead Transformer. The warmth was a symbol of life between them both, despite their different forms. And despite their different forms, there was a little spark of trust between them that neither of their races felt towards each other in a very long time.

They weren't entirely different at all.

* * *

Aiko had remained hidden for a little over a week- plenty of time to fix the Bugatti's engine. She felt a little achieved for being able to repair technology clearly past the human capacity. She had to admit that she was intrigued by the Bugatti and its actions. Within the first few days after that special night, it allowed her to touch it, but every now and then it would jerk or twitch under her palm.

Aiko was always quick to ease it with calming words and tender strokes over the hood –an action that the Transformer had come to crave. She never considered herself the reassuring type, but it amazed her how quickly the Transformer had begun to lean into her palms in the slightest way, or how quickly it began to open a door for her, offering her the comfort of its high-quality interior for the night.

How quickly it had begun to _trust_ her.

The teenager figured this was because all this time the poor thing had been living in constant caution and fear, and finally meeting a being who had no intent on harming it caused it to almost _cling_ to her. Refusing to let its only form of comfort slip away. She had no intention of doing so anyway. It was strange to her how much she had come to care more for an alien than anyone else in her life. Maybe it was because they were both running from the authorities. Running from the control that they were both sick of.

It even began to play music for her as she worked, playing songs on a low and soothing volume on multiple stations. It had a diverse display of songs, from rock to country to pop and jazz. It also played classics, less vulgar raps and occasional techno. She had often fallen asleep in the backseats to many different types of slow songs.

Then, at night, when she went out on her own to grab supplies, she would come back to see the Bugatti gone. She panicked the first time, but she had found it at the back entrance of the warehouse, faced away from the town where it could not be spotted. It leaned a hip and a shoulder against the side, arms crossed and free leg propped up. A very human-like pose, quite honestly. She figured it had opened the double doors on its own, yet not once had it tried to run away. It couldn't. It was still hurt; immobile as a car and held down by the chest pain of its damaged engine in its true form. It wouldn't last long out there in its condition.

But Aiko's heart twisted at its expression.

Longing, sad… craving the freedom it was unable to have. Its situation was like a caged bird. Unable to fly, looking outside where it belonged yet chained down by its clipped wings. This warehouse was essentially its prison, its cage. And it broke Aiko's heart.

So one night she walked up beside it, unintimidated, and placed a hand on its propped leg. It didn't jump or jerk or even flinch. Such a miraculous improvement that proved that, steadily, it trusted her more and more. Instead, it looked down at her, face still hidden by the shadows; it never transformed during the day, so she had yet to see what it really looked like. Those dazzling teal eyes met her brown ones, both staring in calm, yet apprehensive respect. They shouldn't be like this towards each other. They shouldn't be this close, this comfortable, this respectful, this _trustful_ with each other. It would cause problems in the near future. It was against all protocol.

Protocol her ass.

"I'm going to get you out of here…" she said to it, "It's going to be all right… because I'm here to save you."


	4. World So Cold

_Livin' in a world so cold, wasting away..._

 _Livin' in a shell with no soul, since you've gone away..._

 _Livin' in a world so cold, counting the days..._

 _Since you've gone away..._

 _You've gone away..._

 _~World So Cold - Three Days Grace_

* * *

Aiko took a deep breath and slowly closed the Bugatti's hood, staring straight into the windshield, "Alright, start it up."

She backed away from it, watching as the blue and black car roared into life. As a car enthusiast, the girl couldn't help but close her eyes and listen to that powerful engine rumble. Unlike its last failed attempt, the Transformer started up perfectly, throttling its engine with new, healthy sounding revvs. Aiko would openly admit that this was a beautiful car, but it sounded a tad bit awkward considering it wasn't a car at all.

The car jumped forward, testing its ability, then stopped. As though it were hesitant or unused to the ability to _move_. Aiko tilted her head, realizing that she may have to urge it on. She smiled; it was like helping an animal with a broken leg walk again. The teenager bent her knees slightly, backing away while beckoning it, "Come on, you can do it. I want you to follow me. Can you do that?"

It gave an affirmative rev and began to roll forward after her. At first, it was a slow and gauche process, with Aiko's coaxing words and the Transformer's building confidence as its tires circumvolved for the first time in a while. Seeing its entelechy, it knocked up a gear, easing forward a little more. After a few minutes, the teenager was jogging backwards around the warehouse, smiling wide as the Bugatti chased after her.

When she stopped, it skidded to a halt, front bumper tapping her knees lightly. The girl let out a little giggle, reaching out to rub the hood the way it always liked. The functioning engine seemed to purr, vibrating the hood under her palm. The path of recovery was slow and tedious and although it took time repairing it, it payed off in the end. The teenager was genuinely happy, seeing it gain the freedom of movement. Hopefully, there would be no pain for it in its true form as well.

"I bet you feel much better, don't you big guy?" she murmured, leaning forward, looking over its form. Still battered and punctured, but she had managed to buff out the major dents. Unfortunately, the warehouse lacked the proper tools to fill out the bullet holes and smooth over the smaller dents. The scratched pain bothered her too, but she couldn't find any paint left behind. "…Being able to move around again… feels great, doesn't it?"

The engine hummed again and the Transformer inched forward, like it was trying to bury itself further into the soft strokes of her fingers over its hood in an awkward embrace.

 _God... how can something so massive and powerful be so small and gentle at the same time?_

"You wanna run around some?" she asked, a smile gracing her lips, "Let off some steam? This place has a lot of empty space outside, just stay behind the warehouse and you'll be fine."

When the Bugatti bumped her again, she laughed. Aiko patted the hood one last time before she took off towards the back entrance, "Come on! You've been stuck in here for so long, I know you want some fresh air!"

There was a powerful rev of that beautifully high-powered engine and the screech of tires as it pushed forward. Aiko paused at the double doors. The Transformer always closed them after it was done staring of in the distance, but they were far too large for her to open herself. A pang of comprehension hit her. It would have to transform in order to open them… and it was early in the morning. The sun was peeking over the horizon.

She'd finally be able to _see_ it.

A smooth form came up beside her. She looked down, seeing that the Bugatti pulled up so close to her that the hood slid under her hand, making her rest it upon the black painted surface. Like a dog, pressing its head under its owner's hand for attention. She drummed her fingernails over the Transformer, "You're gonna have to transform to open those doors."

A prolonged silence followed, until it reversed a few feet back.

She watched, amazed as the Bugatti split apart and began to turn and shift until it protruded strong mechanical legs. The parts maneuvered over each other, sliding into place as it rose and rose until it was shaped into a 30-foot tall Transformer. The deep blue of its armor shimmered in the lights, teal eyes fluorescent and illuminating a golden face surrounded by a samurai shaped helm. Some parts still shifted on what could be considered its forehead, forming to create a brilliant golden crest in the center of its helm.

It was an incredible sight, to say the least. Aiko was seeing a being not from this world… seeing it for what it truly was. She had heard about how marvelous it was to be able to see one of these unique beings, and by God were they right. It was astounding to see how similar its body was shaped like a human's.

The Transformer strode forward, steps so delicate and confined that they barely even made a sound when they met the ground. Like it was gliding with elegant steps in an even gate. Aiko had to strain her neck to get a good look at it and nearly fell back. Its broad torso, protected by the front end of its Bugatti form, met its hips in a very human-like hourglass shape.

Since the samurai-like Transformer looked _clearly_ masculine, she decided to consider it a _him_ , rather than an _it_. She figured he deserved a more respectful pronoun.

He approached the doors and reached out, wriggling his fingers through to made a crack before prying them apart. Aiko was suddenly reminded how compelling these things really were, to be able to open a pair of thick iron doors like they weighed nothing. The sunlight blasted through the opening, splashing over the Transformer's deep blue and black form. He closed his eyes and tilted his helm up for a brief moment, as though savoring the warmth of the sun against his healing mechanical body.

The teenager monitored his actions, making sure he didn't cringe or wince in pain. When he didn't, she relaxed along with him and strode forward until she was beside him, gazing at the sunrise. Eventually he shifted, and she looked up to meet those piercing teal orbs. It was odd… seeing an actual _face_ rather than just the eyes. His expression was calm, calculating, like he was seeing her for the first time as well.

When it got a little awkward for her, she cleared her throat and gestured at the abandoned property, "Well, um… are we gonna go or…?"

The Transformer tilted his head and gave a short nod before he took a step outside. Aiko trotted after him, eyeing the pair of blades crisscrossed over his back. They looked like an enormous pair of katana to match his Asian theme. So those were the things he had thrown at her. For a moment, she wondered if he had any other weapons, but could spot no other accouterments on his body.

"Hey, wait a minute."

The Transformer stopped and turned around to look down at her. Aiko hesitated, drawn to that curious face. He tilted his great helm, waiting patiently for her to speak. The girl tilted her own head up at him, returning his questioning expression, "I was just wondering… do you have a name?"

Golden lip plates parted like he was going to say something, and she could have sworn a tiny sound escaped them. But he paused for a moment and closed them, pursing them into a firm frown. Aiko sulked slightly when he blinked once and looked away. It was clear he could understand English and he looked _perfectly_ capable of speech.

Why was he remaining mute?

Her first though was that maybe the vocalizer or whatever part constructed his voice was damaged, but she was pretty thorough with her repairs and couldn't find anything else wrong with it. Maybe he just didn't have a voice at all, but that would just be weird. Aiko settled with the fact that he was probably just not comfortable enough to talk to her. She understood that there was still a thin atmosphere of uneasiness between them, not to mention that he was still shut down and recovering mentally from the shock of his run-in with Cemetery Wind.

He'll speak when he's ready.

"It's… it's okay." She said, patting his leg, "If you don't wanna talk or you just can't its fine. As long as you understand me. That's the important thing, right?"

The samurai-Transformer cocked his helm slightly, and she thought she could see the corners of his lip plating quirk up a tad bit. He then switched his attention to the warehouse property. There were old storage trailer her and there and next to them were rusted barrels and crated that were falling apart. Even so, there was plenty of space for a Bugatti to do some exploring.

Aiko smiled and made a shooing motion up at him, "Well? What the hell are you waiting for? Go!"

He paused for a moment before he knelt down, morphing down into his Bugatti form. The teenager took a few steps back, watching as he roared to life and drove off to the far side of the property. The Transformer weaved around the obstacles and sped across the clear pathways, getting a feel of the alternate mode he hadn't quite grown accustomed to yet and burning off the energy that had built over time.

Aiko leaned against the warehouse as the Bugatti got his exercise, listening to the high hum of his revving engine in the background. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, old, and stained photo. Her dark eyes took in the image between her fingers, and she softly sighed. The longer she stared, the more her locked up emotions swelled against their walls. It almost physically _hurt_ to look, and yet she could not bring herself to put the little picture away. Instead, she slid down the wall, slowly, shakily, and plopped down onto the dusty, gravel ground.

She lifted her other hand, and her small fingers ghosted over the faded photo of her, at age five, with another little girl at her side. She had been older, ten years old, with the same ethnic features as Aiko, same smile, same eyes, same hair.

"I'm going to find you..." she whispered, "One way or another, _jiejie_..."

* * *

 _"Jiějie?"_

 _"Yes, m_ _èimei."_

 _"Why are we here? I don't like it here..."_

 _"Because we have to be, Aiko."_

 _"But why?"_

 _A short sigh left the ten year old girl, and she slowly sat up from the lumpy, twin bed her and her little sister were sharing. The little five year old sat up as well, her little face frowning and sad. The big sister hesitated for a long time, unable to explain to her oblivious little sibling why they were where they were. She would not couldn't understand the news, couldn't understand what had happened in Mission City._

 _She wouldn't understand why their parents did not come back home from there._

 _"Where are they, ji_ _ějie_ _?" Aiko whimpered, tugging on the ragged sleeve of her pajama shirt, "Where are māma and bàba? Why haven't they come back?"_

 _The older sister swallowed thickly. How was she supposed to reveal this sort of news to her five year old sister? She could barely stop herself from bawling the moment she herself was given the news of their fate. Her heart still hurt, a dull ache that she knew was never going to cease for the rest of her life. She didn't want her sister to have that sort of pain, and yet there was no way around the truth. Their parent were dead. Killed as civilians by some sort of battle there. No one knew exactly what had happened, who or what had attacked the city, only that many innocent lives had been lost there, for unknown reasons. And their parents were included._

 _They were... there were alone. Dropped by the authorities into this old orphanage with no second glances._

 _"They... ah..." she started slowly, pulling her sister close. She rested her head atop Aiko's small one and whispered with tears in here eyes, "They left,_ _m_ _èimei. They're not coming back..."_

 _"What?" Aiko snapped back, brown eyes wide, "What do you mean? Why aren't they coming back?"_

 _"Do you... do you remember the... the big fight on the news?"_

 _"In the big city?"_

 _"Mission City, yes."_

 _Aiko nodded slowly, "I remember. They went there, didn't they?"_

 _"Yes, and they got caught up in it. The big fight took them away, Aiko."_

 _"But how?"_

 _"I... I don't know. I wish I do, but I don't."_

 _She didn't know how else to put it, so she left it at that. Aiko was too young, she still did not get it. Her eyes were distant, her youthful mind struggling to wrap around the idea that their parents were gone. Permanently. She wouldn't understand that they were now living in a building where they could get adopted, given away to some strangers to call "mom" and "dad". She doubted it would happen. They were not babies, they were of Chinese ethnicity, and most likely not as favored among the other little girls sleeping in the old beds around them. She couldn't find it in herself to care. She didn't want new parents, and Aiko wouldn't either. The very concept would make no sense to her._

 _All she wanted was to take care of Aiko. Keep her safe. Keep her happy._

 _"Promise me something,_ _m_ _èimei." she whispered, stroking Aiko's silky black locks that matched her own. "Promise me that, no matter what happens, you stay strong."_

 _"What? Why?"_

 _"Just promise me, Aiko."_

 _Aiko stared for a long time, and then nodded slowly, "Okay. I promise, j_ _i_ _ějie. I'll be strong for you."_

 _"Good."_

 _Aiko's big sister gently laid down, and she followed behind. Aiko wriggled closer, and her sister happily pulled her into her gentle embrace. For a long, long time, the sisters stayed that way. Holding on to each other. Holding onto what they had left. As sleep slowly took little Aiko over, she could barely hear the soft, light voice of her dear sister in the far distance..._

 _"They are gone,_ _m_ _èimei. But I will always be here."_

* * *

Life was a complete bitch.

Aiko learned that too early.

The teenager gazed at the photo for a long time, but all she could see was the memories she still possessed. Her heart ached. Her fingers trembled. Her jaw clenched. She clutched the small picture and held it to her chest. Aiko blinked away the tears threatening to fall, she pushed her emotions back into the bottle she'd had for years and years and twisted the cap on tight. _Can't let it get to you. Don't feel. Don't worry. I'll find her. I'll find her..._

Aiko couldn't count how many times she'd said that to herself.

The rev of a loud engine snapped her attention back into the present. Lifting her head from her knees, the girl's eyes widened slightly at the Bugatti sitting idly before her, maybe a foot or two away. How'd he get there so quietly? A car with such a loud engine doesn't simply have the ability to be so stealthy. Or so she thought, anyway...

It was rather obvious that he'd seen, or sensed, her distress. The Transformer's engine purred, almost soothingly, as he inched just a little bit closer. Like he was silently asking the question: _Are you okay?_

"M'fine," she mumbled, "Don't worry about me."

The Bugatti abruptly backed away, and for a moment, Aiko assumed he was going to leave her. At least, she did until it split apart again. The teenager jerked back in surprise, watching with wide eyes as the Transformer, well, transformed again. Parts maneuvered over each other, shifting and sliding back into place of his bipedal form until the girl was looking up once again at a thirty-foot, deep blue, alien samurai robot. Somehow, looking up from a sitting position made him look even larger, more powerful, and in the back of her mind, she found herself wondering once again how such incredibly massive creatures could possibly be going extinct from the little human race.

He peered down with those vibrant teal optics, and then he suddenly dropped to his knees, gravel grinding and giving way to his weight.

For a long moment, the two sat there in a mutual silence. It looked as though he wanted to say somethings, words right upon his pursed metallic lips, but in the end, the Transformer only tilted his head in a inquisitive manner. He was clearly unconvinced, but Aiko was simply not about to spill her own problems to an extraterrestrial who most likely wouldn't understand.

Or would he?

Either way, he didn't need to hear her about her own problems. She was pretty sure he had enough to worry about.

Like staying alive.

"I told you I'm fine," Aiko waved him off in a shooing manner, "I'm... going to grab more supplies. I'll be back soon, okay? You should probably hide back in the warehouse while I'm gone."

With that, she hauled herself up, slipping the cherished photo into her back pocket. The Transformer rose up himself, the hydraulics in his joints hissing slightly as he did. Aiko took a moment to admire the large, strong, mechanical frame of a living being she never thought she'd see up close. It really was incredible, how she was looking at something that existed, was created, outside of her planet. The girl slowly turned around and headed back to the warehouse. When she heard the now familiar sounds of parts moving around and the steady rumble of an engine behind her, she turned around to see the Bugatti right at her heels, following her like a lost puppy. Aiko let the smallest of smiles curve her lips, and reached back to pat the hood. "What? You my pet alien now?"

He revved at her and bumped her legs with his front bumper.

"All right, all right. I'm just joking" she said with a light laugh, "You'll be fine. If you don't want to be out here alone, then stay in the warehouse and close up until I come back. I can't bring you with me."

The Transformer followed her inside, and while he transformed to close the doors, she grabbed he bag she kept near some shelves, slipping her picture into a pocket on the side and pulling out a black hoodie. Funny thing was, the town was so lazy and large that it was painfully easy to nab things at gas stations as long as she kept her face hidden. The police had been looking for her for years, but she had stayed out of their reach every time. She never stayed in the same place. They knew it was her every time - the trouble-making teenager who ran away from her orphanage and roamed the streets, nabbing anything and everything she could in stores. Including information, possible leads to the one she'd been looking for since she was ten years old.

Apparently the police didn't think about searching the warehouse.

Good thing too. It would be rather hard to explain what she was doing in there with a beat up 2013 Bugatti Veyron.

When she pulled the hood over her head, she turned around to see the samurai had sat down, leaning comfortably against the iron doors with his pair of katana strewn out over his lap, examining them. Aiko waved a hand to grab his attention. She placed a hand on her hip, pointing straight at him, "I'm heading out. You behave yourself, you hear?"

The Transformer looked confused for a split second, but he slowly nodded and returned his attention to his swords.

* * *

Aiko wasn't normally aware of her surroundings, but the first thing she noticed when she snuck out of the warehouse was a car sitting in a parking lot all alone in the gas station she targeted. It was isolated from the other cars in the very corner. It shouldn't have bothered her as much as it had… but there was one thing about this one car.

It was a Ferrari.

A bright red, Ferrari 458 Italia.

Now _that's_ something you don't see every day.

She shook it off, telling herself that maybe the owner was possibly some richie passing through town. It had to be.

Her plan was simple; she had done it more times than she could count. The employee greeted her when she entered, but Aiko was solely focused on the snacks small enough to stuff into her pockets after going to the bathroom. She opened the coolers, stuffing a water bottle in her black jacket underneath her hoodie. Then, she went straight for the entrance.

But then, while snooping around the counter, she heard the news on the television above. It was on low volume, almost muted, but her sharp ears could still pick up the warning that caught her attention:

 _"…We come to San Diego, California, where two aliens have been terminated. Witnesses report the extraterrestrials obtaining a Chevy Trax and a Chevy Beat disguise when they were reported and finally cornered by Cemetery Wind in the back alleys two days ago."_

The television flashed a few photographs of a pair of Chevy cars, and Aiko felt her stomach drop. They nailed two more, and San Diego was not too far away. Seeing what was going on now made the teenager feel sick. She suddenly felt terribly afraid for the Transformer she had saved. How long will it be before he gets killed, too?

 _"…We have just received a new report. Witnesses claim that another extraterrestrial was seen escaping Cemetery Wind just one hour ago in San Diego. Unfortunately, they were unable to terminate it and its current location is unknown. As seen by these pictures, the alien is a custom-painted green and black Corvette Stingray. Please, if you see this sports car, call Cemetery Wind with the number below immediately!"_

"Green Corvette..." she mumbled to herself, "San Diego. One hour ago. Might need to remember that..."

Escaping the store was easy, since the employee was too immersed in the news to notice. It was normally the case in most stores. Everyone was in on the "alien invasion" going on in the past few months. Everyone wanted to know where they were, what they were, when they appeared and when they disappeared. Speaking of which...

 _Where..._ Aiko thought as she did a double take around the parking lot. _Where did the Ferrari go...?_

The girl stared at the empty space where the exotic car had just been... five minutes ago. There was no way... no one left the store before her, and she was sure she would have at least _heard_ it drive away. Right...?

Whatever the case, Aiko was thoroughly creeped out and she was not about to stick around with a seemingly Houdini Ferrari around. Clutching her jacket close, the teenager took one last sweep around the parking lot before silently sneaking into the dark streets, back to the warehouse. The entire time, she tried her best to ignore the hairs on her body standing on end, and her mind giving her the inevitable feeling of being followed her whole way there.

Sensors honed onto the human girl who possessed the signature of one of its own, the Ferrari weaved through the streets carefully, its form beginning to fizzle and distort, until it was fully cloaked and its invisible form rolled along the path the girl had set for it.


	5. Get Out Alive

_"No time for goodbye," he said, a_ _s he faded away…_

 _Don't put your life in someone's hands, t_ _hey're bound to steal it away…_

 _Don't hide your mistakes 'cause they'll find you, b_ _urn you…_

 _Then he said, "If you want to get out alive, o_ _h, run for your life…_

 _If you want to get out alive,_

 _Oh, run for your life…"_

 _~Get Out Alive - Three Days Grace_

* * *

Aiko awoke in the middle of the night from a loud rev of an engine, followed by a sudden jerk of her entire surroundings that slammed her into the floorboards. She grunted and snapped up in an instant, watching her surroundings move outside the car window as the Transformer backed into a corner of the warehouse.

"What is it?" she whispered, sitting herself up despite her drowsiness, "What's wrong?"

The Transformer only opened the door, prompting her to get out. The girl frowned but climbed out of the Bugatti, now fully awake from his strange behavior. Aiko backed away when he transformed and stood at full height in the darkness, eyes bright and wide as they locked onto the front entrance of the warehouse. She could hear his heavy breathing, nervous and afraid. Aiko followed his gaze and then looked back up at him, "What's the matter? Is there something out there?"

Predictably he didn't answer, but only snuck forward in a crouched position like he was trying to hide. She followed hesitantly, watching the Transformer move forward with soft, barely audible steps. That was one thing she found fascinating about him; despite his enormous size and complex frame, he moved with effortless grace. For such a large being, he was so quiet and elegant in his movements.

Aiko peeked through the crack of the large doors just as the samurai did above her. Brown eyes narrowed, focusing, and she felt her heart skip a few beats when the unmistakable glare of multiple headlights reached her eyes. There, before the gate around the property, were a group of black vehicles approaching.

"Oh shit."

Aiko growled and backed away until she hit the Transformer's leg. Subconsciously she reached behind her to grip at the blue armor, feeling and grooves and transformation creases. Then she smacked at the metal, grabbing his attention. Teal eyes glowed and stared down at her, reflecting her worried look. Aiko craned her head up at him and whispered, "The back entrance. Go."

He didn't move.

The teenager punched at a thick plate of armor near the ankle joint and hissed, "You have to get out of here now!" another hard punch, " _Now_! They're going to kill you! I didn't spend all this time fixing you for nothing, goddammit!"

The Transformer shook his helm, but before she could snap at him again, he knelt down on one knee. The girl stepped away and watched as he reached a hand out. A small smile curved her lips and they locked eyes as she pressed both hands on the index finger. Tenderly rubbing the warm metal with her thumbs, Aiko began to plead, " _Please_ , get out of here. I don't want to see you hurt again. I... I want you to _survive_. I can buy you some time, just please escape through the back entrance."

A tense moment followed, until the Transformer finally nodded and stood back up, giving her a long look before he silently slipped off to the back of the warehouse. Aiko paused, half-surprised that he would give in so easily, but shook it off nonetheless. At least he was getting away. Voices were yelling out at this point, and she turned around just as a group of soldiers in black suits barged in through the hole in one of the doors the Transformer had busted through.

She didn't run or hide… she only stood there while they spotted her and raised their guns, yelling and demanding at her. "On your knees! Put your hands where we can see them!"

The command was useless, considering she was already being grabbed and shoved out of the warehouse by two of the soldiers with a third aiming a gun at the back of her head. Aiko only snarled, leering at them and struggling in their tenacious grip on her. Black vehicles surrounded the abandoned property, soldiers scattering and scouting the area.

Aiko was manhandled over to one particular SUV, where a tall and stoic man approached them. The girl gave him an incredulous look as he looked her up and down through those black sunglasses. Who the hell wears sunglasses at _night_? She scanned over him herself until she finally found a tag on his black clothing. _Savoy_.

Time to do what she did best: stall.

"The fuck you looking at, _Savoy_?" she spat, jerking in irritation when the soldiers forced her arms behind her back. Savoy frowned, staring at her in a way that admittedly intimidated her. And authorities hardly made her feel that way anymore. The man's voice was low and dangerous when he spoke, "I'm looking for something you have, miss Aiko Yueming. Seems you've got quite the police record. Juvenile criminal."

"Congratulations, you've looked at my records." Aiko sneered, "I don't have shit, buddy. Don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Savoy curled his lip, "Then explain to me what you were doing in a warehouse."

"Oh, just being a juvenile criminal. Y'know, trespassing. Why don't you just go ahead and arrest me and fuck off?"

A gun clicked behind her head.

"Do you know who we are, girl?" Savoy asked.

"Yeah, the alien exterminators. Everyone knows that."

"Then perhaps you know what we're looking for."

"An alien?" Aiko cachinnated obnoxiously, "You think I've got an alien? Shit man, what are _you_ on?"

Savoy pulled a gun out, smirking when Aiko shut her mouth to glance down at it. The man fingered it as he stepped closer, "Three weeks ago, my team had one if these 'aliens' in their targets. It escaped miraculously."

"Your point?"

"I find it interesting, Aiko, that you went _missing_ again the same time my soldiers had lost this alien. It ran off… straight towards this town." Savoy said, loading his gun. Aiko's jaw clenched, watching him take his sweet ass time slipping one bullet in after another. "We got a call. Someone reported an alien around here."

 _That's… that's impossible! He never left the warehouse! How could he be reported when no one was able to see him?_

It was then that the mistake was made. Aiko snapped up in an instant, eyes widening and worry flashing across them. It was too late by the time she had realized what she had just done, and Savoy smirked contently, "So, you do know of it."

The man clicked his gun and pointed it at her, "Is it in this warehouse?"

Aiko began to struggle again, her movements becoming desperate and fearful when she watched more soldiers enter the warehouse. The teenager bared her teeth at Savoy and hissed, "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just looking around, and I'm pretty fucking sure there isn't an alien in there."

Whatever he was going to retort was cut short when the soldiers came back out, one jogging over to them, "Sir, area has come up clean. No traces of a target."

Savoy was on her in an instant, grabbing the collar of her jacket and yanking her, despite the soldiers holding her, until she was forced to look up at cold shades with a pistol pressing against the bottom of her jaw. "Where is it? Where is the alien?"

"I don't fucking know!" she hollered, "How am I supposed to know where he is?!"

There was a pause, and then he spoke, "You just said _he_."

Aiko's mouth quivered and she eventually sulked in his grip. Savoy snarled and ripped her from the soldiers, whipping around to slam her face first over the vehicle's hood. A strong arm gripped the back of her neck and pressed the side of her face against the cold hood- so different from the warmth and the gentle hums underneath she was used to feeling. It was almost hard for her to remember what a lifeless vehicle felt like, until right then.

"You've got three seconds. If I don't get an answer-" the barrel of the pistol pressed against her temple, "You die."

"Stop it!" Aiko's mask shattered in the moment. She began to cry, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the sideways warehouse, "Please let me go!"

"One."

"Let go of me!"

"Two."

"I don't know where he is! He fucking left!"

"Thre-"

 **BANG!**

Whatever happened next was a mere frenzy around her, because all she could remember was the ringing pain in her ears when the gun went off… but not in her head. The bullet had punctured through the hood a few inches away from her face. She could hear tires screeching in the background, but it was opaque and distant. The hard grip on her neck was gone, allowing her to look up.

She saw it. Her eyes lacked lucidity, but she could still see soldiers diving out of the way, as if they were trying to avoid something. A flash of red flew by her sight and collided with one of the SUVs. It took her a moment to regain some focus, and when she did she realized the car wreaking havoc was the red Ferrari 458.

Aiko stared in disbelief as it swirled around on the pavement, tires screeching in protest, and fled. As it flew by, she could vaguely see through the windshield… to see no driver.

An then the impossible happened.

It vanished into thin air, as though it was never there. She watched with wide eyes as the air seemed to fizzle around it, the Ferrari's red frame beginning to distort, and then the car simply dissolved into nothingness as it sped away.

Savoy yelled from behind her, "Target acquired! After that Autobot! Alert Lockdown now!"

The girl finally saw her chance and pushed off of the hood to run, but the man already grabbed her, keeping her within his strong grip as some remaining soldiers opened the SUV. "You're coming with me! Get in the car!"

Aiko was shoved into the backseats, a soldier following her with a gun to the side of her head. _That was the third fucking time in less than twenty minutes._ Savoy and another soldier climbed in the front seats, starting the car and speeding off. Aiko looked through the window, frowning deeply when she watched half of the force splitting off in the opposite direction. Probably to get the Ferrari.

… So _that's_ why she kept seeing it everywhere. She briefly wondered if it was the Ferrari that got reported rather than her Bugatti… because there was no other way a report could be made. A thought suddenly hit her; did it _know_ she had one of its kind with her? Was that why it was in town? Did it follow her to the warehouse?

Well, it saved her ass… kind of. That's all that mattered to her at the moment.

The soldier in the front seat pulled out some sort of radio device and listened to it. After a little while he put it away and leaned over to Savoy, "Sir, Lockdown is in pursuit."

"Make sure he _gets it_ this time."

"Lockdown?" Aiko said, "Who the fuck is Lockdown-"

The soldier in the back seat hit the side of her head with the barrel of his pistol, growling, "No talking. Stop asking questions."

Suddenly, the soldier's radio device was on speaker when it spoke _. "Sir, we have a target in pursuit…"_

That must have come from one of the vehicles following them. Savoy snapped his head at the device and snatched it from the soldier's hand. "Where is Lockdown?! How did it get here so quickly?! Kill the damn thing!"

 _"Sir, this is a different target. A second one."_ the voice behind the device replied, _"…And it's pursuing us."_

All four of them glanced back through the back window. At first there was nothing except the three vehicles trailing after them, but in the distance there was another flare of headlights, shortly followed by the loud revving of a high-powered engine. A _painfully_ _familiar_ high-powered engine. It was approaching fast, and in a matter of seconds it collided with the back end of one of the vehicles that was directly behind them. Aiko yelped as the back SUV lurched forwards as the car behind them smashed into their back bumper.

Savoy cursed and swerved the car out of the way, yelling into the device, "Shoot it! Shoot the tires! Take it down, _now_!"

Aiko wasn't sure if they heard that command, because she watched with wide eyes as the familiar blue and black frame swerved sideways and rammed one of the vehicles right off of the road. It rolled and tumbled until it was left behind in the chase. By then the soldiers were poking out of the car windows, shooting at the figure as it swiftly dodged here and there… moving just as gracefully in vehicle mode as he moved in his true form.

Aiko let a small smile curve her lips, "Come on, big guy… help me get out of here..."

The soldier in the back with her finally turned away from her, rolling down his own window to shoot at the Bugatti. The teenager moved in an instant, and with one swift hit to the back of his neck, the soldier was out. Savoy and the other soldier were yelling, but she was too immersed in her mission to understand what they were saying. She hauled the soldier back in and grasped the pistol, aiming it at the back of Savoy's head. "Pull over!"

The other soldier pulled out his pistol and pressed it to Aiko's temple, "I don't think so."

The girl tensed, but stonily kept her position. Stall… she needed to stall for him. Some malarkey will have to do.

"Put the gun down, girl." Savoy growled, "Or he'll blow a hole in your head."

"I'll blow a hole in _your_ fucking head!" she snarled. "Pull over now!"

 **WHAM!**

The whole vehicle spun out of control suddenly, tires screeching in protest. Aiko fell back into the seats as the SUV whirled to a stop in the center of the road. She sat up just as the two men did, and a chill ran down her spine when headlights raced straight for them. Savoy wrenched the wheel and plunged his foot into the gas petal. The car lurched forward and spun sharply to the right, just barely dodging the collision.

Here was a horrid sound of metal rubbing against metal, and the blue and black form scraped against the left side, taking out the side view mirror. Savoy reassembled the car and sped off… or tried to. They didn't get very far when The Bugatti rammed them again, and this time the SUV skidded and then flipped over. Everything turned into a blur as the vehicle spun upside down along the road.

 **WHAM!**

The Bugatti struck them again, launching them forward until the car plunged into the ditch. Aiko cried out as she hit the roof of the cab, the windows shattering around her. She could taste blood in her mouth and feel the warm substance trickle down her temple. The girl lay there for a moment, trying to gather her scattered mind, until she forced herself up. Sneaking a glance at the front seats, Savoy and the soldier seemed just as disorientated as her.

Taking the chance, Aiko heaved herself up on her hands and knees, crawling over the upside down roof until she was at the door. She reached up, finger curling around the handle, and pulled. The door cracked open… but barely. It was jammed. Swearing, she leaned back, positioning herself and kicking both heels at the door. It groaned in reply, but with each hard kick it was prying open bit by bit.

"No!" Savoy howled, struggling in his seat. The air bags were jammed into their bodies and they struggled in them. He looked back and spotted Aiko, swearing and trying to reach back, "No!"

Finally, with one last kick, the door popped open. Aiko threw one fuming look at the man before nabbing the pistol and pushing out. Muscles strained and bruises were surely forming, but she pressed forward, crawling out of the ditch and hauling herself up. A roaring engine caught her attention, and Aiko felt her body relax in relief when the Bugatti drifted around and screeched to a halt before her, door popped open for her.

 **BANG! BANG! BANG!**

The sounds of guns going off made her instinctively duck. The teenager ran forward, looking back to see Savoy climbing out of the car along with the soldier, both struggling, but eyes raging as they shot at her. Aiko sprinted as fast as she could in her condition, practically diving into the Bugatti. The Transformer slammed his door shut the moment she was in and knocked up a few gears, lunging forward and disappearing into the night with the girl safely in his interior.

Savoy made a poor attempt to run after it, only getting as far as a few feet before he shot uselessly at it until the Bugatti was long gone. He hunched over, wiping the sweat and blood from his brow and then from his cut lip. A hand gripped his shoulder, and then man looked up as the soldier held him steady. He had a regretful look as he slowly said, "Sir… the other squadron just contacted me…"

"And what did they have to say?" Savoy hissed through clenched teeth.

"Lockdown has lost sight of the first target, sir. It's gone. Seems to have possession of some sort of... cloaking ability."

A viciously ferocious roar pierced the chilly night air. And shortly after, a gunshot followed.

* * *

They drove nonstop for hours, the Transformer deliberately surpassing the speed limits that clearly inferred he was speeding out of fear of being tracked down. Aiko had no idea where they were going, and she had a good feeling that he didn't either. As she shifted uncomfortably in the seat, she realized something. "Shit… I forgot my bag."

 _Although, it wasn't like I could walk over and get it anyway._

She began to panic. There were many personal things she had kept in that bag. Pictures, clothes, memories...

The passenger seat suddenly jerked forward, and Aiko was ready to jump out of her skin with the sudden motion beside her. She looked from the slouched seat, to the dashboard, and back, unsure of the Transformer's reasoning of doing such a thing. But then she saw it. Leaning over to see, Aiko could see her black bag, sitting untouched in the back seats. In an instant, she snatched the strap and hauled it into her lap, tearing into it to see everything she had was still inside.

Carefully, the girl reached into a small pocket and pulled out the old photo.

She stared at it for a long time, until she felt something snake across her body. The unexpected feeling startled her and she jerked, eyes wide as she watched the seat belt slide over her body and click itself in. The Transformer squeezed it tight against her body for a moment, as if he were hugging her in reassurance, and then the pressure let up just as quickly as it had come. Aiko slipped the photo back into its pocket and hauled the bag over to the passenger seat.

Taking in a slow breath, her gaze turned to the steering wheel twisting by itself. Her eyes locked onto the red insignia in the center of the silver-lined wheel, glistening among the interior lights. After a while of staring blankly, Aiko reached out and touched the intriguing signal. The way the wheel jerked ever so slightly let her know that the touch had not gone unnoticed. Her fingers skimmed over the symbol lightly as she whispered, "Thank you..."

The insignia glowed a deep blue for a minute, and then faded out.

Exhausted and disgruntled, Aiko huddled herself up into the seat as best she could, her body sore from the events that took place and her mind left in some faraway place. Succumbing to the warmth of the heated seat, she welcomed the impending darkness of sleep.

Meanwhile, a bright red Ferrari zoomed out of the city in their wake, it's form once again fizzling out until it vanished into the darkness of night.


	6. Smoke and Mirrors

_All I believe..._

 _Is it a dream, that comes crashing down on me..._

 _All that I hope..._

 _Is it just smoke and mirrors..._

 _~Smoke and Mirrors - Imagine Dragons_

* * *

The woods used to be a creepy place for Aiko, but now, it was her cherished haven. Hidden away from plain sight, protected, _safe_ … for a short time at least.

It was a last resort, more or less. The idea was never considered for the longest time because the Transformer's car mode wasn't exactly built for such terrain. Getting around would be a bit difficult for him. But the moment he took an unexpected turn into the trees one day, she knew he had made up his mind, willing to endure it if it could ensure them just a little more cover.

They were on the move for about a week, stopping as much as possible without getting caught for Aiko to steal what she needed and stock up. Cemetery Wind hasn't been after them since. It was a small reprieve, but a good enough one to give them time to hide.

Since he couldn't exactly stroll around the forest, the Transformer was forced to walk just like her, forging a path for the both of them as they strove deeper and deeper. A couple hours of cutting trees down with katana later, they were gifted with a wide lake. Aiko scouted around it, surprised to see a dock built on it. It looked old, but not to the point where it could collapse if she stepped on it. It must have been previously owned.

The girl was sitting on the edge of the dock. The travel bag she had grabbed was full of the food and drinks and other necessities she stocked up before they took to the forest. She hissed as she pressed a medical wipe to the cut on her temple, trying her best to make sure it wouldn't get infected. The wound had healed over the small amount of time, but the cut was still deep and capable of contracting things she didn't want.

The sun was blazing hot up above. If she wasn't wary of alien eyes on her, she'd probably take a dip in the lake. Speaking of alien, the samurai was parked peacefully underneath a tree, out of the scorching heat. She had discovered that he was able to overheat, judging by the way his fans were roaring when he worked his way through the forest the first day. He even panted every now and then to compensate for his fans when he bore to leave any shade.

Poor thing wasn't accustomed to the extreme Earth climate. He had a lot coming for him in winter.

Aiko looked back at him, eyes widening when she saw him roll from underneath the tree to the side of the dock _. What the hell is he doing now?_

Shrugging, the girl turned back and tended to her wound. She just vaguely hear the Transformer's engine hum along with the crunch of tires over wild terrain. She paid it no mind for a while… until she heard a sudden _VROOM_ that made her jump ten feet in the air. And then…

 ** _SPLASH!_**

A whoosh of air hit her, and in the corner of her eye she could spot a black and blue frame speed right off of the dock and dive into the water hood first. Aiko yelped and raised an arm to block the water that splashed everywhere. Aiko sat there, unsure what to think of what just happened. Bubbles erupted moments later… lots of them.

Aiko crawled to the very edge of the dock to peer at the mass of bubbles. A minute passed, and suddenly the water surged, causing her to jump back. The sun glinted off of deep blue armor, and the samurai emerged from the lake's depths in an elegant arch of his back. Eyes closed, golden face tilted up to shimmer in the bright sunlight, it felt like she was looking at a magnificent mythical creature. The water dripped from his massive frame, running through the crevices and seams of his plating. The Transformer sank back down a few feet, until he seemed to finally hit the bottom, the lake reaching up to his shoulders.

Shaking her head with a small smile, she began to stuff the medical supplies into her travel bag when she heard water being splashed around. The Transformer was scooping large amounts of it in his hands and applied the water to the golden plating of his face the same way any human would to wash their face. He repeated this action a few times, running his hands over his face, over his crest and helm and eventually down to his neck, where blue and black fingers dug and massaged at the neck cables.

 _Interesting, even alien robots like to have good hygiene and take a dip to cool off. Wonder if he'll let me scrub him down as a car sometime…_

Teal eyes reopened and suddenly he craned his helm to sneak a glance at the human girl while rubbing at the cables in the back of his neck. Aiko gave a smile and waved at him, and could help but laugh a little when a shy little smile was all she got. Damn it, it was almost kind of cute how such a being like him could be so flustered and shy around her. Especially when he made the strangest faces whenever she did something that struck him as odd.

The samurai began to wade, coming forward until he was right at the dock. He lifted his drenched arms, crossing them over the edge of the dock and resting his chin over them in yet another human-like position. He watched over Aiko closely, monitoring her movements as she stored her things away. Normally she didn't have a problem with eyes on her… but with him being so close it was getting awkward.

When she turned back to him, the Transformer's eyes were closed, like he was simply resting on the dock. Much of the dock was drenched with the water pooling around his large arms as the sun beat down on his metal frame. Aiko stared for a moment, pausing her rummaging through the bag to gaze at the golden plating that made up his face and crest. It shimmered and gleamed in the broad daylight, stark against the darker blue armor that shaped his helm

Suddenly, as if sensing her, a single teal eye opened. His helm tilted ever so slightly, like he was questioning her. Aiko snapped back into her senses and shook her head, "Just… I wouldn't sit there for too long. You're kinda made of metal so you'll get hot pretty quick."

The Transformer didn't move and only continued to stare at her. The teenager gave him a mystified look, "What? Stop staring at me, it's getting weird."

He shifted slightly, the water splashing against the dock's supports when he did so, but didn't let up on his position. Then his lip plated quirked up a bit, and she realized at that moment he was doing this _deliberately_. Who knew Transformers could be big rebels? It never occurred to her that they could actually be mischievous when they wanted to be. So he wanted to play that game…

Reaching back into her bag, the teenager felt around for an item. The entire time she challenged his stubborn stare with her own, and for once she was unaffected by those piercing orbs that seemed to sear right down to her soul. It was like some sort of amusing yet intense staring contest. Finally she snapped her hand back and ripped out an open water bottle.

She pointed it straight at the Transformer and jerked it at him. The water spurted out of the opening from the force and splashed the Transformer's face, and in an instant his helm lurched up from where it was perched upon his crossed arms, teal eyes as wide as possible. The girl smirked and lowered the bottle, laughing when he seemed to deflate when he caught onto her trick to make him stop staring. For a brief moment, he glared her down, and then his face went soft and his mouth quirked in a not-quite smile.

 _Still amazing how something robotic could show so much expression..._

"You blinked." Aiko sneered playfully. She flipped the bottle in her fingers, twirling around and accidentally kicking her bag. It rolled onto its side, spilling out a few of its contents. Sighing, Aiko set the bottle down and pulled the bag upright when her eyes landed upon the dark, silver-gray item that had fallen onto the dock.

Slowly, Aiko reached down and picked up the pistol she had nabbed from her run-in with Savoy.

The weapon shimmered in the sunlight, and Aiko fingered the barrel with a cautious curiosity. She didn't have to turn around in order to feel the hard gaze of the Transformer behind her, and she felt the dock groan with his uneasy movement over it. She turned around and his vivid eyes met hers briefly, then they flickered down to the small weapon between her fingers. He stared at it with a look she couldn't identify, but she felt like she didn't have to. This was a weapon used against him over and over again, had punctured through his armor, had caused him pain.

Her eyes gazed over his broad shoulder plating and the armor over his arms, the bullet holes still prominent on them.

"I know," she said gently, grabbing his attention once more, "You don't like it."

The samurai's cybernetic eyes rotated and blinked once, but he said nothing. His great head tilted slightly, like that of a curious animal as he looked between her and the weapon she held. As if he were wondering what she was planning to do with it. Aiko continued to finger the barrel, and said softly, "You know I'd never shoot you, right?"

She saw him nod in the corner of her eye, and he slowly eased back down to rest his helm on his arms once again.

"I'll be honest... I have no clue how to use guns." She said without thinking and she sighed,"Mechanics, though, I'm pretty good with. Taught myself how to hotwire and tweak with the engines, motors, all of that stuff. That's how I knew how to fix you. Or at least, _most_ of you."

The Transformer gave an understanding nod and shifted his position against the doc slightly.

Aiko hummed and promptly placed the gun carefully in a separate pocket in the travel bag. "But anyways…"

She stood up, walking over to the Transformer and grinning when he shifted, unsure. Though they had never really been this close, she knew he wouldn't do anything just as he knew she wouldn't either. They trusted each other enough. The girl placed a hand on her hip and brought the other up, and in one quick movement, flicked his nose. "Now get off the dock before you break it."

She laughed at the scrunched up expression, yet he still stubbornly leaned on the dock. Aiko glanced behind him and then huffed, though in an exaggerated manner, and walked away, "Fine. One of your swords is missing by the way."

A minute passed, and then…

 **SPLASH!**

That night she was rested against a tree before the lake. The full moon was out, pale light glistening over the calm water. By now the samurai would have transformed and let her in to sleep in his backseats, but now he was sitting by the lake with his back to her. He had begun to act unusually gloomy, if that was even possible. Troubled almost, and for some reason he hadn't looked at her again once.

She had decided on giving him his space. Perhaps he was just caught up in his thoughts, or there was something getting under that thick armor of his. But she was curious. She wanted to see if she could get something out of him, whether he could speak or not. He was bothered, and in turn, so was she. The teenager eventually huffed and stood up, walking casually towards the Transformer until she was a few feet away. Her eyes loomed on the threatening pair of katana crisscrossed over his back, and briefly she wondered if it was a good idea to try and talk to him when he was behaving this strangely.

Her curiousness overrode her second thoughts, however, and she trotted up to his side. Words remained stuck in her throat. She racked her brain for something appropriate to say, but ended up settling with a simple, "Hey…"

His nasal plates flared, but other than that she got nothing.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" she finally got out, "What's the matter with you?"

In an instant, his helm snapped down at her so fast that she unintentionally flinched. His eyes glowed right in the darkness, firm and hard, completely different from the gentleness and serenity they normally possessed. Why he was suddenly so stoic was beyond her. Maybe it was her, or maybe it was him. Was he finally tired of carrying her around? Or was there something else entirely that made him upset? What if-

"Why?"

It came out so loud and clear that Aiko jumped. Hearing another voice besides her own genuinely startled her. It was so foreign now after a few days of being the only one speaking that she legitimately believed she had imagined it. However, the way the Transformer tilted his helm at her in a peculiar way told her that it was definitely not an illusion. She gaped at him, "You… you _spoke_."

Aiko nearly jumped out of her skin when he reopened his mouth and actually _spoke_. " _Why_ did you save me?"

"I-I… you have an _accent?_ "

His eyes narrowed in clear irritation, _"Why?"_

The sheer power of that voice caused a shiver to run through her spine. It wasn't forceful or intimidating- if anything, it was rather calming. It was clearly male, his voice laced with a rich Asian accent. It possessed the most exotic ring to it she had ever heard from any accent –as exotic and smooth as his Bugatti form.

"Why did _I_ save you?" Aiko said, pulling herself out of the memorized state she didn't realize she was in, "Because you were in pain."

"From the damage _your_ species inflicted on me." He replied bitterly, though she knew he was seething more to himself from the tone and distant look in his eyes.

"I know. I hate us too. We're just a bunch of lying little bitches who like to harm others for our own gain. I'm sorry you have to deal with us."

The Autobot kept silent, most likely taken off guard by a _human_ insulting her own race. After a while of receiving an unconvinced look and getting no response, she sighed silently. "… I helped you because you're an Autobot. Autobots were the ones who protected us, if I remember correctly. That and… I literally had nothing better to do. I'm just as clueless as you are about why every single one of you must die now. It's just not right. The government's fucked up like that, let me tell you."

"Do not all humans follow their superiors? If caught, you can undergo massive charges for willingly aiding me."

Aiko snorted, "If every human followed their superiors, we'd be doomed. I would have reported you, too. I _never_ follow my superiors. It's why I helped you, because I'm one of the sane people who don't do whatever the fuck I'm told. It's insane how many people actually follow the government and report the aliens who saved our asses from other aliens-"

The Transformer heaved an exasperated sigh, "Could we please refrain from the constant _profanities?"_

The teenager scrunched her nose, confused as to why _that_ of all things bothered him, "Yeah, sure. Whatever. I'm just piss-er… angry."

"At this government, I assume?"

"At every goddamn thing." She growled, "…Sorry. _Everything_."

"I… cannot deny that I feel the same way." He said solemnly, staring off to some distant point that only he could see.

"You're being hunted like an animal. There'd be something wrong with you if you _weren't_ angry." Aiko sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "But anyway… can I ask you something now?"

"What is it?" he almost whispered, eyes still distant

"Why haven't you been talking to me this entire time, since you're clearly capable of speaking?"

He finally gave her one long look before turning to gaze down at the lake, "I did not know how to speak."

Aiko snapped her head back, "You... what?"

"To you." He corrected himself, lacing his metallic fingers together in his lap, "I did not know how to speak to you."

"Uh… so what exactly is that supposed to mean?" the girl said, bewildered.

"I have spent four Earth years fleeing from humans." The samurai vented and looked down at his neatly intertwined hands, "Never did I think I would need to communicate with one."

Well if that was the case, it certainly explained his behavior in the beginning. His fear to be near her, to be touched by her... and now he had the fear of being _away_ from her because she was most likely the only being in this entire planet who treated him with respect and dignity. She didn't treat him like a pest that should be exterminated. All he knew this whole time was that running meant surviving. That humans were dangerous and should be avoided at all times. It was rather plausible now that she thought about it, because how _would_ you know how to talk to the enemy after running from them for years?

"Never did I think you'd actually communicate with me." There was a detectable hint of amusement in her voice, "I was pretty sure you were completely mute before now."

He cast a sidelong look at her, a look that she was glad to see was gentle and considering. "Would you rather I remain mute?"

"What? No!" Aiko waved her hands, "I didn't mean that like I didn't want you to talk. I… I like your voice."

The Transformer cocked his helm, a little movement she had come to realize was a common thing for him to do when he was confused, curious, or interested. He shifted his sitting position, legs curling in until he sat with his legs crossed. Aiko tilted her own head at the human position but paid it no mind. He sat with his back perfectly straight as he hummed in a content manner. "My voice… you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, it sounds nice." The girl smirked up at him, "And… I have a thing for accents."

He nodded slowly, and Aiko wondered if he actually understood what 'having a thing' really meant. But it was true; she liked his voice, being able to hear it for the first time. It was rich and melodic and she would happily listen to it for days. It might be weird for a little while, since all this time he was silent, but she would get used to it.

"Are you okay now?" she asked suddenly. The Transformer blinked a few times before answering, "Yes, I am fine. I wanted an answer and you have given me one."

"Good, because that crude look you gave me kinda scared me."

"Did it?" he replied, sounding sympathetic, "I apologize. It was not my intent to look crude. I only wished observe."

"Then you observe intently as hell."

 _This_ time she got a crude look. The teenager held her hands up, "Okay, sorry! Intent as _heck_. Jesus, are you really going to be pesky about that?"

 _Gee, first thing he does when he gets his voice back is lecture on my swearing habits._ Maybe she won't get used to this...

"Most likely. I do not particularly enjoy swearing, even in a human language." There it was again, that distant look. Like half of him was lost in some faraway place. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. His teal eyes... _optics_ are probably a better term, were refocused and peering down at her with newfound kindness. But Aiko still wasn't convinced, "You _sure_ you're all right?"

"I am fine." Was his only answer. A long silence followed, neither quite knowing what to say to the other. So instead they sat in a prolonged silence, losing themselves in their own thoughts. It was some time later when the Transformer stood up, breaking the silence by his parts shifting in protest. "Perhaps it is time for you to rest. I had not noticed how late it was getting."

"What about you?" she asked, also getting up. "You guys sleep, right?

"We do, in a way, but I can go days on end without the need for rest," he said, shaking his head, "I must be awake should they find us."

The fact that he didn't even need to clarity who 'they' were disturbed her more than it probably should have. The Transformer then folded down into his Bugatti form, routinely opening the door for her. Aiko was frowning, but accepted his offer and climbed in, squeezing behind the front seat to settle herself into the backseats. She heard the heaters click on and his engine hummed lowly, lulling her as it always had. After a little while she propped her head up on one arm, using her other to run her fingers over the black leather.

"What's your name?" she asked suddenly, unsure if she'd actually get an answer considering his current form. Nothing happened for a few minutes, until the radio began to cackle. Her initial thought was that the Transformer was going to play songs like he normally did, but instead the static faded and the radio spoke. _"Drift."_

Aiko snapped up, eyes wide. That voice was his… the accent was unmistakable. The girl blinked a couple times while trying to process what she heard. "W-what?"

 _"Drift,"_ the radio repeated, _"my designation is Drift."_

"Drift…" she rolled the name around her head, wrapping her mind around it. It was the one word she had been searching for this entire time, yet it felt odd to call him by a name now. All this time he was just the big blue samurai Transformer. Now he was Drift. Slowly she laid back down, drowsiness pulling her consciousness away. "Huh… fitting…"

That was about as far as that thought would get, because in the next moment Aiko was falling into a silent, dreamless darkness.

* * *

Talking with Drift was something Aiko still had difficulties grasping. That and having something to _call_ him by. Speech and a name… they were two things she had been unable to get from him after so long. It felt insane now to know that he really had both. Even so, she would be lying if she said she didn't like the sudden change. It was nice to talk to him and actually get a response.

"So… you don't use blasters or any or those other crazy weapons?"

"No. Just these."

"If everyone else used guns, then where'd you get those?"

"From... from a very special friend. He taught me the ways of melee combat, rather than guns and the like."

"Huh..."

The two were settled underneath one large tree. Drift was leaning on the thick trunk while Aiko was across from him, both of their legs crossed. Drift's massive pair of katana was strewn out over his lap, and she watched as his fingers delicately traced over the foreign symbols carved into them. The girl then asked, "Those symbols, are they your language or something?"

"Ancient Cybertronian." Drift replied, "A very old language of our race that is no longer used."

Within the short time it had been since Drift was finally talking, she had been learning more and more about his race and how they worked. Like how they 'recharged' instead of slept, where their systems shut down and they succumb to some sort of sleep cycle. Or their home planet, Cybertron, which had been destroyed in the throes of their war. The essential reason why they had ended up on Earth.

"So what, you guys speak modern Cybertronian?" Aiko asked. Drift gave her a thoughtful look, "In a way, yes. What we speak now had evolved from Ancient Cybertronian. It is also known as the language of the Primes."

That caught her attention. Aiko gaped for a moment before inquiring hesitantly, "Prime? Like Optimus Prime?"

Drift snapped his head up. "…Yes. How-?"

"He's like the grand prize." Aiko explained, "There's wanted posters of him everywhere."

"Ah… I see…" Drift looked away, like he was trying hard not to remember why they were in these woods in the first place. "Optimus is an ancestor of a sacred group of Cybertronians called Primes. There were thirteen originally. They were supreme and powerful, the very first of our kind."

"So they were like leaders, I'm assuming?"

"Exactly. Do you remember what I told you about our war?"

"Yeah, there were two factions." She recalled, "Autobots and Decepticons, something about an overthrow on your planet that caused crazy shit to happen, right?"

"I suppose that is one way of putting it…" Drift hesitated before continuing, "Optimus is our last surviving descendant of the Primes. When our race split, he was a proud leader while Megatron was a foul soul with nothing but hatred in his spark."

A memory of watching the news came back to her and she nodded in understanding, "He was the Decepticon who started the Battle of Chicago. But I think he died… I _hope_ he died."

"So do I…" there was a low growl in his tone that made her uneasy, but Aiko decided to push it aside. She looked up at him, "So I'm guessing this Megatron led the Decepticons and Optimus led you guys."

"He led the Autobots, yes."

"So he leads you."

"He does now."

"Now?" Aiko frowned, "What do you mean _now?"_

Drift shut his mouth and looked away.

Suddenly, a tree collapsed a few meters away. Both of them jumped, Drift leaping up in an instant while Aiko scrambled away to avoid getting crushed. A few more trees rustled around, causing Drift to crouch in a fighting stance, ripping his katana from his back. Golden lips plates peeled back, revealing sharp fangs underneath, "I sense them. Another Cybertronian."

Aiko didn't have the time to reply, because in that moment a red figure emerged from the trees. It stumbled out, then froze when it noticed Drift there ready to pounce. Like Drift had said, it was another Transformer. A red one. But what was more important was that it had blue optics, a trait that she immediately associated with as another Autobot. Drift seemed to notice too. He stood straight, though his swords were still out.

The red Transformer was a bit smaller then Drift, maybe about twenty feet in height in comparison to Drift at about thirty. When he spoke, he spoke with a clear Italian accent. "Greetings, I have been following you for quite some time."

Drift didn't reply, so Aiko did, "Are… are you that Ferrari that's been stalking me in town?"

"Indeed. Although, _watching_ is a better term." He replied, sheathing the pair of silver blades in his arms and calmly approaching Drift, who seemed speechless. As if he hadn't seen one of his own in millennia. Eventually he walked from the shadow of the tree, "You are... familiar. Although I… I do not believe we have officially met before."

"No… but I have heard much about you. Drift, is it?" the other Autobot said politely, looking up at the samurai, his cerulean optics wide and wary. Intimidated.

 _But... why? They're on the same side, right?_

"Yes…"

The Italian Transformer nodded firmly and extended a hand, "I have been observing your human companion before Cemetery Wind invaded."

"So I have heard." Drift accepted the hand, albeit hesitantly. "I would like to know why."

"Of course, but first allow me to introduce myself." The smaller Transformer released Drift's hand, "Most know me as just Dino. However, my true designation is Mirage."


	7. Madness In Me

_From the fire that burns inside, consuming..._

 _I fight to stay alive but I, can't, breathe..._

 _The voices scream..._

 _The enemy takes over everything..._

 _This is the madness in me..._

 _~Madness in Me - Skillet_

* * *

"You are telling me that you have not seen another Autobot for three years."

"About, yes."

"No one at all?"

"Not a soul, I'm afraid."

Drift let out a long, exasperated sigh. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg, looking as though he was having trouble wrapping his mind around what Mirage had just told him. Down below, Aiko stood nearby, looking wearily between the two Cybertronians as they engaged in conversation. She kept silent and instead listened as Mirage continued to explain all that was happening.

"From what I gather, you have just recently landed on this planet? Only a few years ago?" Mirage asked, head tilted ever so slightly. It wasn't just a Drift thing, apparently.

"That would he correct." The samurai nodded slowly, "I received a message from Optimus himself that we was calling lost Autobots to this planet. And yet, as soon as I arrive, I get a message of him warning of the the dangers of the human race. That we are being hunted."

Drift's optics flickered down to Aiko for the briefest second, "Am I to assume much has happened since the first message?"

"Indeed, much has happened. Too much." Mirage looked away, "I hate to inform you, but you have come at the worst time. The human race is angry at us. Deception, Autobot, it no longer matters. We both have caused destruction to their societies. They speak against Cybertronians of all kinds."

"You speak of destruction as though there was war."

"There were three, actually." Aiko said, her eyes distant as she recalled everything she herself knew. "First one was when I was much younger, in Mission City. Another big war happened in Egypt. The government tried to cover them up. Tried saying it was a terrorist attack or some military related thing gone wrong. Then Chicago got invaded big time, and when giant alien robots with red eyes spawned all over the world destroying cities, everyone knew then what's been happening. The public found out about you guys, Cybertronians. Aliens. And now, a lot of the world is kinda in ruins. Seems to me like the government is trying to clean up."

Mirage nodded, "She speaks the truth. Optimus's search for the AllSpark and the presence of some... other relics, have initiated three separate wars with the Decepticons on this planet. Wars that the human race, unfortunately, was needlessly dragged into. The last battle being... the most catastrophic for Cybertronians and humans alike. As far as I know, at least, as that was the only war I myself fought in. This planet was very nearly destroyed by the one we once thought we could trust the most."

"And so, this is a lash back at what those battles had done to them?"

"Yes. They are killing us off because of the damage we have caused them." Mirage looked down at Aiko, his cerulean optics looking solemn, "A part of me cannot be angry at them for that reasoning."

Drift frowned and merely looked downwards, thinking. There was a short silence, and then Aiko stood up. As her eyes lowered from the Cybertronians, her gaze landed and scanned over their frames. Mirage had minimal damage, only bearing scratches and small dents. Drift, on the other hand, was still marred with a combination of deep scrapes, scratches, and bullet holes. There was a clear contrast on who was the most earth-wise of the two, and who had been on the planet longer to know how to hide in it.

She slowly walked over to Drift, and her hand reached out and stroked a piece of armor on his lower calf. "They can puncture your armor."

"There was a time when such a thing was impossible." Mirage said. When he received wide looks from the both of them, he continued, "Humans are smart. Too smart for their own good, I dare say. They try, and they fail. And then they learn."

Drift narrowed his optics, "What are you saying?"

Mirage came forward suddenly, the action causing both Drift and Aiko to recoil slightly. The smaller Autobot reached out, carefully, and it took Drift a moment to realize that he wanted his arm. The samurai allowed him to take an arm, and Mirage's fingers felt the punctures in the blue armor, "When man fought Cybertronian for the first time, we were invincible to them. I was not there at the time, but I recall the description of the battle in Mission City, the first time human forces attempted to fight Decepticons with us. They lacked the power, lacked the knowledge, and because of it, they could not penetrate our armor. We were protected by a material stronger then anything they had ever seen, and their guns could do nothing more then bring Decepticons to their knees, if they hit the right spot."

"Let me guess," Aiko muttered, "The military upgraded itself."

"Indeed. When the human government made an alliance with the Autobots, they gained knowledge of our anatomy. Our tactics. Our weaknesses." Mirage let go of Drift's arm, "Little did we know that sharing them such information would result in our own demise. That is why they can hurt us so drastically. They have learned, and now they know."

Drift stared at his bullet holes, "They know how to kill us."

"Yes."

Something clicked in Aiko's mind, her hand slipping from Drift's leg, "I wonder..."

The girl trotted over to the dock, where she had left her travel bag. Two pairs of bright blue optics followed the small human girl as she rummaged through her belongings. Drift and Mirage simply watched her with curiosity. Then, Drift vented softly, "Sometimes I wonder if she was better off if I had left her."

The red Autobot cast a sidelong look up at Drift.

"I had thought I could keep her safe if I kept her with me. I want to protect her, just as she had protected me." Drift shook his head, "I was wrong, I will only put her in more danger, and now I cannot turn back."

"Cemetery Wind will capture her if you leave her now." Mirage mumbled in understanding. The larger Autobot nodded slowly, crossing his arms and leaning on one strong leg, "That… and the way she treats me. Not like a pest. Not like a monster. She treats me like an equal, _talks_ to me like an equal… do you realize how much that means to me?"

"I have an idea…" Mirage's doorwings dropped slightly, "I have... ah... heard if your struggles in the past. When you switched. Trying to fit in with a new army. I don't imagine you were appreciated."

Drift physically winced and Mirage contemplated on whether or not he should have said that. "I apologize. That was insensitive for me to say."

"It was not wrong." Drift almost whispered, and Mirage gave him a sympathetic gaze. For a while they stood in an awkward silence. Neither of them were really familiar with one another. Maybe they were both in the Autobot ranks and knew of each other, but in reality they hadn't spoken to each other until now. They had crossed paths on occasion whenever they had been stationed at the same ship during the war, but other than that, they were hardly even acquaintances.

Well, _plenty_ of time to get acquainted now.

Coming to a decision, Mirage suddenly turned to face the samurai, reaching out to grip his arm and tug at it, "Come."

"…What?"

"You heard me. Come."

Drift looked bewildered, but allowed the smaller Autobot to pull him back away from the lake to a clear spot. One side glance of his optics and he could briefly see Aiko look up and stare after them as the two settled in the clear space. Mirage released Drift and looked up at him, "I assume it had been some time since you had seen a comrade, correct?"

"Yes…"

"The last fellow Autobot I had seen was Ratchet…" Mirage said, noticing the flicker in Drift's optics when the Autobot CMO was mentioned, "That was three Earth years ago."

Drift nodded solemnly, "Ratchet, I was familiar with him… we were stationed on the same ship during the war."

"Well, let us not dwell on the war." Mirage stepped back, "You are awfully tense. The way you move, it is stiff. Perhaps we should loosen up our systems a bit, don't you agree?"

Drift tilted his helm, not failing to notice the little flicker of vigor in Mirage's optics, "And how exactly are we going to do that?"

"By doing what we do best. Fighting."

The samurai blinked a few times. "I beg your pardon?"

Aiko, her attention having been refocused to her bag, dug through it until her fingers brushed against a hard, rectangular object. Her fingers curled around it, and she slowly pulled out the small, ammunition cartridge. She had taken it out of the pistol for safety reasons. She didn't trust herself around such a weapon, whether it was loaded or not. She felt better when there was nothing in it.

Carefully popping open the cartridge, she plucked a single bullet out and held it up close. Her eyes narrowed, placing the cartridge down to feel around the bullet. She could feel it. The very tip, unlike any normal bullet, was pointed and sharp with small blades encircling it. Not meant just to penetrate, but to drill. She had a vague idea that it wasn't made up of a material found on Earth either.

Logically, the only type of metal that wouldn't bounce off their armor was the metal that they themselves were made of.

"Modified." She mused. "Thought so."

 _But... where would they even get access to Cybertronian metal?_

Humming to herself, she hesitantly popped the bullet back into the cartridge and placed it back into the bag. She then unzipped a separate pouch on the bag and pried it open, peering down at the pistol shining in the sun. Aiko stared at the weapon for a long moment.

 _I can hurt a Cybertronian with this thing. I can hurt a several-ton, several-foot tall, metallic alien._

As she heard the voices of Drift and Mirage behind her, a small realization made her stomach churn uncomfortably. _I can hurt one of them_.

When was the last time you sparred?" Mirage asked. Drift then realized the red Autobot's intentions and frowned. Really, he couldn't even truly remember the last time he trained with someone, let alone remember _who_ it was. Everything that happened right before he arrived on Earth was just a blur in his processors now. His face plating scrunched up a little, but the expression was answer enough for Mirage.

"Hmm, I expected as much." The smaller Transformer crouched in a fighting stance. "Then let me be the first to propose a sparring match."

"I… we cannot spar." Drift blurted. He appreciated the offer, really, but to fight someone like Mirage… "I mean, we _can_ , it is just that… you are so _small…_ "

He knew how ridiculous that sounded and sighed. However, Mirage was anything but offended, and he only chuckled. "And you are large. Why does it matter? Size does not determine skill."

Drift stared down at Mirage and smiled just a tad bit, "I suppose not."

"So, do you accept my proposal, Drift?" Mirage asked tauntingly, playfully, a tone Drift hardly even recognized anymore. He watched as his red armor rearranged on his arms and a pair of razor sharp silver blades popped out, gleaming in the sun. The smaller bot slashed at the air experimentally, and the blades moved through the air in quick whirrs.

Drift let a smirk curve his lip plating, and he reached back to pull out his pair of katana. The massive blades glistened in the daylight, slicing through the air as Drift maneuvered them with seemingly no effort. It had been so long since he had properly used them. Maybe he'd enjoy this more than he originally thought. His optics grew dim, focused, quick to monitor every movement of his new opponent. "I accept."

Mirage mildly surprised him with an immediate first strike, lunging with a shout. Reflexes long dormant came rushing back and Drift blocked the first attack. He then brought a knee up, nailing Mirage in the midsection and shoving him back. The samurai went in for a strike of his own, yet Mirage's small size allowed him to duck and bounce away swiftly.

Only after a few minutes of dodging and striking, Drift finally came alive. His armor flared and unlocked, allowing better and faster movement. Newfound energy pumped through his systems, giving him strength and stamina. His vents roared to life, helping to maintain his core temperature that was steadily rising with every strike under the blazing sun. His sensors heightened, making him hyperaware of anything and everything around him.

Primus, he couldn't remember sparring feeling this amazing.

Landing successful blows was difficult, for Drift hardly ever fought enemies only half his size. He was always one to test his limits; taking enemies even as large as twice his own size. It was awkward and troublesome, but by the AllSpark it felt _so_ good.

Drift was fast, _much_ faster than what Mirage was expecting from a bot so much larger. There was something intriguing about the way he moved. He would strike and bounce back to flare his armor mockingly, like some magnificent cobra. Most Autobots would attack until they found a weak point and hit hard there, yet Drift seemed to dance around Mirage, gliding across the ground. Every single move he made was deliberate and carefully calculated and it was a technique Mirage had never seen before.

"Not tiring yet?" Mirage grunted as blocked an overhead strike.

"Hardly!" Drift hissed though clenched yet grinning dentals, jumping back to avoid a counterattack. "I'll have you know that no Autobot has been able to best me in a spar!"

Mirage laughed, twisting to the side to dodge a jab. In quick retaliation, he whipped around and struck Drift's wrist, dislodging the sword from his grip. The samurai gasped when the katana flew into the lake, snapping his head back to Mirage who had his helm up proudly, "What was that?"

"Conceited, are we?" Drift tantalized, deciding to discard his remaining weapon. His feint move worked, as Mirage was visibly taken off guard when Drift tossed the second blade behind him.

The abrupt and loud clang of metal nearly startled Aiko out if her skin. The teenager whirled around to where the two Autobots had wandered off to, and was surprised to watch Mirage _lunge_ at Drift. The samurai had skillfully dodged the blow, and the two of them engaged in what seemed to be some sort of "play fighting".

Initially she was worried. Even if she knew that they were not actually "fighting", the way they slashed and swung and snarled made it look so _real._ They were dangerous individuals, Aiko knew, and somehow watching them in action was almost mesmerizing. She saw Mirage deflect a heavy swing of Drift's katana, the air whistling with its motion, and she became genuinely worried that they would actually hurt each other. She didn't want to have to repair a severed limb.

Something flew into the water, immediately drawing her from her thoughts and concerns. Drift and Mirage stood in bent stances, and it was then that she realized that Drift was missing one of his weapons. A tense moment passed, and then Drift tossed his other sword, leaving him practically defenseless. It visibly surprised Mirage as much as it did Aiko, and Drift took advantage of the pause to swing at the smaller Autobot.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Drift's fist came down closer and closer to Mirage's head, a calculated punch that would surely hit. Aiko stood up, tempted to try and stop the session before one of them gets truly hurt. But then the most unexpected and unbelievable thing happened that made Aiko question her eyes.

Mirage _disappeared._

The opportunity was all too open, and Drift threw a hard yet controlled punch to the side of the red Autobot's helm. However, Mirage was there one second… and the next Drift found himself swinging at empty air. He stumbled, astonished, and was in utter disbelief when he twirled multiple times and could not see the red Autobot.

"Wha…" Drift trailed off, and in that moment he couldn't have been any more confused _, "What?!"_

"My designation is _Mirage_ for a reason, Drift."

Drift's sensors screamed at him when a form reappeared behind him, but before he could react, a swift kick to the back of his legs had him collapsing in an ungraceful heap on the ground. The samurai whirled around onto his back and scrambled away, teal optics wide and bemused as they landed on a distorted Mirage. Then, the smaller bot's form fizzled and he vanished, reappearing a few feet away.

"You can cloak yourself?" Drift said as he sprang up. He watched Mirage nod and then teleport right before him. Displeased, Drift gave Mirage a hard, disapproving look, "That is _cheating_."

"You don't know me." Mirage said, his tone amused and mischievous, "I don't _always_ play by the rules. Besides, if you have defeated every Autobot you have sparred with, I should not be any different, yes?"

"I never sparred with one who can _turn_ _invisible_."

"There is a first time for everything, no?" the red Autobot chuckled, and promptly put his ability to use when Drift went in for another attack. It was like a second stage of their spar had just begun; this time, Drift was forced to spin at a constant rate, trying to anticipate Mirage's next location. His sensors were not of much help, considering Mirage's secret power seemed to hide him and keep him undetectable whenever he cloaked himself. It was overpowered and completely _ridiculous_.

So _that's_ how it was going to be. A snarl threatened to claw from his vocalizer, but he swallowed it back down and vented it out. _Never attack in anger. Anger will get you killed._

Anger also triggers a part of him best left unsaid.

Keeping that in mind, Drift allowed Mirage to initiate the first move. He almost didn't see it, because in one moment Mirage was gone and the next he was lunging for a side attack. But when Drift blocked and tried for a counterattack, Mirage was gone before he could even try. It was disorientating and the little Autobot was _quick_. Mirage disappeared and reappeared with practiced precision and he kept coming, sneaking blows and taking full advantage of his superior ability.

At that moment, Drift knew his technique earlier would do no good if he was forced to be constantly defensive. So instead strayed away from his straining sensors and honed his instincts. At this rate he'd never be able to turn this back around because his pace was decreasing. Sooner or later he'd become too slow to block. Mirage knew this, too, and in his little spurt of arrogance Drift noticed he was slowing down.

Experimenting with the gifted bot, Drift stopped blocking all together and instead began to sidestep and dance around the way he had before. Trying to get back on familiar ground. And then, in a fateful mistake, Mirage zipped into existence again and Drift was ready for him, sidestepping to allow Mirage's overcharged momentum push him past. There was the smallest of gasps that emitted from the small Autobot as he stumbled for balance.

Mirage whirled around, but Drift was already on the offensive, hardly giving Mirage the time to block and dodge or even cloak as he swung and kicked. A feint was attempted here and there, but Drift was never easily deceived. He had reestablished his rhythm, found his control and refused to let it slip by again. At one point Drift allowed a slash across his torso, but Mirage acted in quick realization and finally had a spare second to cloak before Drift could counterattack.

The samurai growled lowly, but by now he had figured out the pattern. His teal optics widened, brightened, and searched for the distortion of objects that gave away Mirage's position. Then, he spotted it; the distortion of a nearby tree told Drift Mirage was in front of it, and he lunged in a graceful roadhouse kick to nail an invisible surface that was Mirage's midsection. Not too forceful to knock him offline or cause a dent, but plenty hard enough to have him down on the ground.

Soil flew everywhere from the impact, and there was sure to be a large indent of Mirage's back armor in the ground. Said Autobot lifted his head in time to see Drift go for a lunge. Trying to get back up right then would be a rookie's mistake; he'd be open to a hard tackle right back to the ground. So instead Mirage waited, watching Drift close the distance. Finally, when the samurai was upon him, the smaller Autobot kicked out, planting his feet firmly on Drift's abdomen.

There was an evident grunt of surprise when Mirage pushed as Drift jumped, lifting the larger Autobot right over him like his superior weight was nothing. Drift let a yelp escape him when his body was no longer in his control and he toppled over Mirage in a rough somersault, landing hard on his own back. Being quite a bit heavier, the ground shook more violently from Drift's impact rather than Mirage's.

"Ack!" Drift coughed, but before he could regain himself, Mirage was upon him, one foot pinning his chest down while an arm blade grazed against his throat. The samurai gripped his arm, but the little Ferrari was stronger than he would have liked. Mirage chuckled, receiving an indignant snarl when he anticipated Drift's attempt at a head-butt and snapped his head up in time. "Never been defeated by another Autobot, you say?"

"Never." Drift said, grinning suddenly. He forced his head up again, but instead of another futile attempt at a head-butt like Mirage expected, Drift bared his dentals and sank his fangs into a crevice in Mirage's arm, piercing right through his armor. His optics flickered dangerously, and an unknown and unexpected _urge_ flowed through Drift's lines as he bit down and locked his jaws around bright red armor.

Energon dripped into Drift's mouth, staining his glossa with a thick and metallic taste. It leaked from the seams of Mirage's armor and pattered onto Drift's plating below. Something overcame the samurai; something deep inside, formerly locked deep down, had crawled its way out of Drift's tight-wounded self control, came bursting out with a fiery rage and an urge to _destroy_.

Mirage hollered when the unexpected pain seared through his entire arm. He yanked back, yet Drift's jaw only clenched tighter, fangs that were adapted to dig in and hold on giving the samurai the advantage to take over the writhing Autobot above him. Mirage was flipped and shoved back to the ground hard. He tried to slither from underneath the samurai, but two strong hands clamped around his neck and he was slammed right back into the grass.

Two strong hands that, with a barely audible " _shiiiing"_ , protruded a pair of razor sharp claws.

And it was in that moment it became clear, to Mirage with a spark of fear, Aiko in petrified horror, and Drift with a cold hard dread, that something had snapped inside him. Something beyond his control.

Mirage wrestled beneath the larger Autobot, fresh adrenaline surging through him with his newfound fear, but Drift's sheer size and strength kept the red bot down. His cloaking ability glitched in his panicking, switching from visible to invisible as he writhed. Drift grinned for the first time in a long time, unaware of the quailed flash in Mirage's optics when he saw Drift's set of sharpened dentals, now gleaming with his own life source. Unaware of his retractable claws stabbing into the delicate rubbery lines of Mirage's throat as he squeezed.

Unaware that he was killing one of his own.

"I yield...!" Mirage forced out, feeling the hot flow of his own Energon seeping from the incisions of Drift's claws. "Sto-stop! D-rift! I _yield!_ "

Drift's thumbs dug deeper into the cluster of cables in Mirage's throat and stabbed dangerously close to his main line.

Something was wrong.

Aiko could feel the shift when Mirage had taken Drift down. Something changed. Something snapped, and it became horrifyingly obvious when Drift bared his dentals and _bit_ Mirage. Hard. She snapped up immediately while Mirage wailed in unexpected pain, trying to pull his arm free of the samurai's jaws. But he only seemed to bite harder, jaw locked to prevent escape, his sharp fangs stabbing through crevices between armor plates.

Mirage's optics were wide. It was then, with the telltale signs of his genuine fear, that Aiko knew it was no longer a play fight.

Drift suddenly released the limb, but gave Mirage no time to retreat. He threw the red Autobot off of him, _violently,_ and his hands latched themselves around the frightened Autobot's neck. Strangling him. Mirage kicked and thrashed and fought, but he was too small in comparison to do much more then squirm like a trapped animal.

Mirage's bladed arms hacked and slashed at Drift's torso, doing nothing more then scratching paint and creating sparks. Blades and swords were not effective unless the wielder knew and was able to hit vital areas. Something Mirage was unable to reach. The red Autobot instead gripped at Drift's ever tightening hands, clawing and prying at them. His head fell back into the grass, and his panicked optics met the wide, brown gaze of Aiko.

The girl's mind was scrambling at what to do as Mirage looked at her. Drift continued to strangle the helpless Autobot beneath him, his aggressive venting audible even at her distance. His optics gleamed a dark, dangerous blue and his sharp dentals were bared. Aiko knew that wasn't him at that moment. There was something else there, clouding Drift's mind and his senses with a killer rage. Drift was stuck in some sort of trance that had him growling and snarling.

And grinning. Drift was grinning.

"Drift!" Aiko yelled, hoping her voice was enough to get his attention, "DRIFT!"

When Drift didn't even glance at her, Aiko bit her lip, her hands grasping the sides of her head. _He needs to snap out of it._

 _I need to snap him out of it._

Her head whipped back to the open pocket of her bag.

Mirage could see it. The more he was forced to look at the sadistic grin, hear the faint laugh in the hard pants, and feel the suffocating pressure of an urge to kill, he could see the underlying _thing._ He knew what it was. He heard rumors of it, saw the aftermath of what it did to others. And now, he was seeing it.

The shadow of who Drift was, showing himself in all his devilish, murderous glory.

Drift lifted an arm. His entire body leaned back slightly, recoiling back, and his hand raised up to the side. His claws gleamed in the light, sharp, curved points at the tips of his fingers. Mirage's arms came up, an attempt to protect himself from the impending attack. Drift snarled, and his arm reared for a slicing blow to the head.

 _BANG!_

A gunshot. The sound cracked through the air and echoed. The loud noise made both Autobots jolt and jump as it ringed in their sensitive audials. Their optics flew wide, their armor flared in alarm, and the situation was momentarily forgotten to check their surroundings.

Both heads snapped in the direction of the shot, across the lake.

Aiko lowered her arms, her hands firmly gripped around the pistol. Her face was grimacing, recovering from the recoil she wasn't expecting. Her eyes were wide and her body trembled. There was a long, uncomfortable silence between all three, until Mirage shifted and returned his gaze to Drift.

The samurai looked dazed, confused. His optics flickered and rotated, like he was resetting them. He slowly met the smaller mech's optics beneath him, and that was when his senses seemed to come to. Drift glanced between his hand clamped firmly around Mirage's neck, to the smaller hands gripping his arm, and up to his raised arm, ready to strike. His mouth opened, but no sound left him, only soft, disbelieving vents.

Mirage seemed just as conflicted. He merely stared back, looking as though he was too hesitant or too wary to try escaping. He didn't need to. The moment Drift got his bearings, his arm snapped up and he quickly moved to give some space. Mirage crawled back, his hands touching his aching cables, and he made a low noise as he felt the rush of energon flow through to his head again.

Drift was beyond horrified. The last he could remember was biting in an effort to defeat Mirage. His mouth reeked of the taste of energon, his processors remained foggy, his armor faintly stinged where blades slashed across it, and he gripped one of his hands, openly gasping at the sight of his claws.

Aiko remained frozen in place, unable to do anything more than watch.

It was Drift who spoke first. He looked up, his armor shaking, and it was the first time Aiko saw him visibly shaken since the night she saw him shivering against the warehouse wall. "Are... are you hurt?"

Mirage stood up. His balance was off, still shaken himself by the incident, but extended the arm he was favoring. A plate off his armor just past his wrist was dented, teeth marks evident. There was a faint stain of blue, but it was such a minor wound that his nanites seemed to have already stopped the punctured line underneath from leaking. "No."

"I..." Drift fumbled as he struggled to say about six things at once, "Mirage... I did not... I never meant... I mean... I-I am... so sorry..."

He slowly got to his feet, stumbling just as Mirage had, something almost odd to see after knowing how graceful they both naturally were just prior. The deep blue mech switched his gaze, and he looked over at Aiko. The girl just stared back. She didn't know what else to do, or to say. She saw his blue optics, back to their vivid teal shade, flicker down to the gun in her hands.

"Drift..." Mirage said carefully, and he stepped forward. Drift reeled immediately when he caught the movement.

" _NO!_ " He hollered a little too loudly, casing both the red mech and Aiko to jump back. Drift shot out a clawed hand, a signal to stop, and he backed away, "Do not... come any closer... please."

Mirage held up his hands, "Easy-"

Something heavy clanged against Drift's armor when he took another step back, and he snapped his head down. One of his swords. It gleamed a brilliant silver, the Cybertronian carvings shined. He grabbed it in an instant, like it was a lifeline, and almost seemed to cradle the blade against himself.

Drift breathed in, long and slow, and felt the last of the madness inside him settle back down to its dark place inside him, soundly locked away again. For now.

But it escaped. It wasn't supposed to, and it hadn't for some time, but it did. And he needed to ensure it wouldn't come out again in the only way he knew how. The way he was taught.

"I need to..." again he struggled to speak, and he looked between Aiko and Mirage's bewildered faces once more before mumbling, "...Excuse me. I'm sorry..."

Drift turned away and nearly ran into the forest, disappearing from view. His heavy footsteps could be heard for a little while longer, and then there was silence.

"M-Mirage..." Aiko's soft call would have been to quiet to hear at his distance, if it weren't for his advanced audials. He met her eyes, and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she went on, "Mirage, you're... _steaming._ "

The red Autobot did a scan over himself, and realized he _was_ dangerously close to overheating after the spar.

If he could call it that.

"Right... thank you." He replied, expanding his armor to help the heat escape his systems as he waded into the water. The smaller Autobot hovered near the dock, allowing close proximity to Aiko as he let himself soak and cool off. She had since then put away the gun with shaky hands, and sat down on the edge as Mirage leaned on it, letting the cool liquid help lower his core temperature. And let his processors wrap around what the frag had just happened.

Aiko, unfortunately got to asking before he could, "What was that? What... what happened?"

Mirage thought for a long time before answering, "I do not know, little one. I do not know."

"I don't understand." She ran a hand through her hair, "I never thought... I mean... I never ever saw him be so... _violent._ H-he was never like that before! He attacked me before, but he was scared. I scared him by accident, when I first saw him, but... he never..."

"Deliberately tried to kill you."

"I mean... he threw one of his swords at me."

Mirage stared at her.

Aiko stuttered, "I-I think he was just, you know, trying to scare me away, though. He didn't exactly try to squeeze the life out of me."

The small Autobot rubbed his neck and said nothing in reply.

"You're not... hurt are you?"

"No, but I would have been had you not taken action." He said, a glint of gratitude in his cerulean optics, "And for that, I thank you. You... may have very well saved my life."

"I just... did the first thing that came to mind." She looked back at her bag, attached the pocket where the pistol was stored, "I knew there was something wrong with him. He... changed. He looked out of it... like something was... _controlling_ him. So I got his attention."

 _She doesn't know_.

Mirage moved to get out of the lake, his core temperature lowered to a normal level. His foot hit something hard in the depths of the water, causing him to pause abruptly. He reached down, fingers feeling, and then grasped the object. It was heavier then expected, and he hauled up the long weapon. Drift's sword.

Mirage and Aiko exchanged troubled glances. He held it in both hands and waded out of the water, setting it down in the grass. Drift would get it when he comes back. Eventually.

Red armor flared, and water dripped from crevices and seams as Mirage expelled the excess liquid from his body. After a moment, he turned to look at Aiko, his head cocked to the side ever so slightly, "Aiko... that is your name, correct?"

The girl stopped from where she was walking off the dock, slightly confused, "Yeah."

Mirage gazed down at her and nodded slowly, "Tell me, Aiko. How long have you been a companion to Drift?"

"Er…" Aiko took a moment to mull over the amount of time she had been with Drift and her eyes suddenly widened, "Well... at least a month and a half now. But he never spoke until we got here."

"As expected. We were essentially supposed to refrain from and human contact." Mirage explained, "Drift is not the most sociable being either, according to what I have heard about him."

"Assuming this means you don't really know him."

"No. I knew _of_ him, but never truly met him until now."

"So you're telling me you can't even remotely explain what the actual hell that was about?"

Mirage hesitated, and Aiko noticed. "He has a reputation."

"What reputation? Don't tell me he has anger issues." Aiko said, and suddenly Mirage was regretting saying anything. Yes, there were many rumors about Drift that Mirage had heard, but he couldn't tell her. She didn't need to know about any reputation Drift had or still has among the Autobots. Or did she? It almost pained him how oblivious this girl was, committing herself to this particular Autobot and only just now seeing what lies beneath him.

She needed to know, one way or another.

Because he couldn't bring himself to let her remain oblivious to that dangerous thing that lurks beneath the seemingly virtuous samurai.

Mirage vented in and puffed the air back out, "Drift has told you much about our ways, has he not?"

He could tell she was unwilling to let up on the subject, but she nodded slowly, "Yeah, he's told me stories of the war and stuff. It's kinda cool, actually. Not that your planet got destroyed, of course. Just hearing someone talk about the war when he's actually experienced it."

 _If only you knew, little one._

"Well, I myself have a story I wish to tell you." Mirage declared, and was mildly amused by the way her eyes widened in awe and excitement like she was an excited youngling. "It is a very important story, so listen well."

With that, Mirage crouched down and he transformed into his Ferrari mode. It threw Aiko off slightly, because she was used to a Bugatti opening his door for her. She doubted she'd be seeing that again for some time. She approached him and slipped into the driver's seat. It was so odd, because the interior was different from Drift's and she wasn't sure if she liked it. Mirage waited until she was settled and rolled to park on the dock so that there was a clear view of the lake.

Just in case.

The air conditioning clicked on and adjusted themselves to a low setting. Mirage's radio cackled a moment until his Italian voice spoke with a tint of humor, _"Comfortable? I realize I may not be as luxurious as Drift."_

At least he was trying to lighten up the mood. It wasn't successful, but she gave him that much.

"You're awfully nice to me for an alien whose kind is getting killed off by mine." Aiko said slowly.

 _"So is Drift."_

"I saved Drift, he has a reason to be nice."

 _Smart girl. Too smart for her own good._

 _"I like to stay optimistic."_ As if he could see her dubious expression, he added quickly, _"I will explain why later. For now, I want to tell you about a Decepticon. Has Drift ever informed you on them?"_

"He doesn't like to tell me about them. Only that I should run for my life if I see one."

 _Hmph… typical._

He could feel the way Aiko shifted in anticipation. This was a subject she never got out of Drift and Mirage was more than happy to begin, _"Decepticons are very dangerous, as you may know. Very destructive and very hateful. They wanted to rule over Cybertron and essentially that was their plan for Earth as well."_

"Yeah, I figured." Aiko said when he paused, "They've fucked it up quite a bit."

 _"Mm. But there was one Decepticon who was feared by all. No one knew where he came from or how he became so savage. He was a pure mystery. On Cybertron, he led many raids, caused a lot of havoc and slaughtered many Autobots. It was rumored that during battle, he laughed as he shot us down, craved our screams as he ripped his victims apart and savored the Energon of the Autobots he mutilated. He was feared even by his fellow Decepticons, and it was debatable whether or not he was even more insane than Megatron, the leader of them all. It was said his red optics reflected Unicron himself, a god of ours that brings nothing but chaos destruction. His claws were long and lethal and it was said that if you were in them, your life was over. His fangs were the worst, because he used them to rip out throat cables or any part he could get a hold of. Insanity was an understatement. There were no words to describe that Decepticon and how much he craved death upon others."_

Aiko couldn't find the right words. _This_ definitely wasn't what she was expecting for a war story. "I… okay. So this Decepticon was a literal _psychopath_."

 _"Indeed. A ruthless and brutal killer."_

"Dare I ask what his name was?"

Mirage paused for a long moment before replying, " _Deadlock_."

A shiver went down her spine. Even that _name_ was scary. It told her just how serious this was; just how horrible those Decepticons really were. And some were on her planet. She couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if they ever managed to take it over. Aiko swallowed thickly before she forced herself to ask, "So… what happened to him? He's gotta be dead now, right?"

 _"No."_ Aiko almost flinched at how harshly he said that _. "He is very much alive. That is why I am telling you this now. To warn you that Deadlock is highly dangerous and he will kill anything that moves without hesitation. Including you."_

Great, as if things could get any better. Now she's got a red-eyed psychopath alien robot who reflected the devil to worry about. She hoped Cemetery Wind killed him. Although, considering how Mirage described him, she wondered if they were even capable of taking down a Cybertronian like that. And it was entirely possible that the three of them could run into Deadlock. That would purely suck.

"I mean, you can turn invisible so at least _you'd_ survive if we run into him, right?"

 _"This is no joke, Aiko."_ Mirage said urgently _, "I am telling you this right now; if you ever, EVER see Deadlock, I want you to run and I want you to run as fast as you can. Never look back and never slow down. Just run."_

"What about you and Drift?"

 _"…If we ever see Deadlock, neither of us will be there to save you. Not me… and definitely not Drift."_

"Wow, so he's that bad, huh?" Aiko hadn't realized she was gripping Mirage's seat until she felt her fingernails nearly poke holes in the leather, "Alright, if I ever see him, I'll run. He sounds... pretty scary. Thanks for the warning then, I guess. But if there's someone like him on Earth, why didn't Drift tell me this?"

 _"I have a grave suspicion that Drift , unfortunately, does not know Deadlock is still here."_ Mirage said, _"One more thing. Do not tell him that I told you this."_

Aiko was flabbergasted, "What? _Why_? Don't you think he needs to know about this guy too?"

 _"Oh, Drift knows about Deadlock."_ The lie made Mirage's Spark hurt, but he pushed on, _"He does not need to be reminded. It is up to fate whether or not the two of you will encounter him."_

Aiko was utterly confused, but she nodded. Drift wasn't fond of telling about Decepticons anyway. She supposed it was wise not to bring it up. "Do you think we will?"

 _"I do not. But if there is one thing I want you to know most of all, it is this: he lives, he thives, and he kills. Beware, little one."_

* * *

The madness inside Drift had a name. One given by Megatron himself: Deadlock.

It was easier this way, when Drift considered them different beings. Drift, Autobot warrior. Deadlock, Decepticon berserker. Just... in one body. Two different beings going back and forth, fighting for the top. Fighting to get to the surface. A good amount of the time, Drift came out victorious, and Deadlock was left in the depths below, kept as far away from the surface as possible.

But sometimes, Deadlock initiated unexpected fights at unexpected times. Sometimes he took Drift by surprise, and seized victory before Drift could fight back. It was times like these when Drift is the one trapped underneath, and Deadlock breaks the surface with a burning, hateful battle rage. And most of the time, Drift can do nothing to stop it.

And when Deadlock's had his fun and lets Drift shove him back down, he's left to the often horrid aftermath of what Deadlock had done. While Drift looks at the destruction with overwhelming shame, Deadlock hides in the shadows deep within, laughing and mocking.

It was a never ending battle, and one Drift's fought for centuries.

But he'd just lost a run-in with Deadlock. He bit Mirage, tasted his energon, and it excited Deadlock. Drift felt him just underneath, but could not push him down before Deadlock shoved him aside. That happened sometimes. When Drift got angry, or irritated, or felt the rush of adrenaline during a good fight, his control slipped, and Deadlock would seize the moment when Drift least expected it.

And when that happened, Drift did what he always did.

The samurai pushed through the woods, shouldering past trees, putting distance between him and the two he could have seriously hurt. Or worse. Deadlock was there, crawling underneath his shaky control. He didn't retreat completely, and Drift was not about to be in proximity of Mirage or Aiko if he were to overthrow Drift again.

Drift felt weak, mentally and physically. His processors were scrambled and his limbs ached. From the spar or from Deadlock, he didn't know. He imagined it was both. His hand gripped the hilt of his one sword tightly, enough that his knuckle joints hurt. The only thing on his mind was to _get away,_ as far as he could.

He wandered for what felt like hours. Eventually his legs gave out, and Drift collapsed onto his knees. He didn't even try to get back up, and instead looked up, closed his optics, and gripped the back of his head with both hands. He flinched. Something was pricking him. He brought his arms down and looked at his hands. His claws were still out.

Deadlock's claws. Not his. Drift didn't have claws.

He snarled at them with Deadlock's dentals (unfortunately he couldn't hide those no matter how badly he wished he could) and retracted them, the menacing Decepticon trait replaced by the blunt, friendlier fingertips of an Autobot.

 _Stop fooling yourself._ Deadlock's voice growled from somewhere inside _. You're no Autobot._

 _Go back to sleep._ Drift growled back.

He changed his seated position, bringing his legs in front of him and crossing them. His spinal struts snapped up straight, by instinct, and he pulled his one sword from his back and laid it carefully across his lap. With his posture firm and proper, Drift's fingers felt the markings in the weapon. He didn't even need to look at them to know what it said.

 _Turned from darkness_.

His breathing slowed, the pulse of his Spark caiming to a gentle hum. He took comfort in the words, their meaning, where they came from. And who put them there. His mind drifted, thinking about nothing, but everything at once. He focused on the peace surrounding him, and felt himself relax. Finally.

Meditation was a wonderful thing. Drift learned to enjoy it over time, but Deadlock would scowl at the very notion of it. Other Autobots thought him odd for doing it. Some used to say he was faking it, others said he did it to look mysterious, or get attention. Most thought it was Drift trying to be someone he wasn't.

In some ways, they were right.

He would never be the noble, sinless warrior his teacher was. But he tried, every day. He took what he learned and used it to find peace. Find redemption. Find control over himself. As the world faded away around him, his thoughts reached out to such memories. And he smiled, the echoes of _his_ voice bringing Drift the much needed peace, and Deadlock promptly retreated to his corner, admitting defeat.

 _"You know I'm not good at this meditation stuff."_

 _"There's nothing to be_ good _at, Drift. Meditation is relaxation, not a skill to master."_

 _"Yeah? You seem pretty good at it."_

 _"I do what makes me comfortable. Just because I do it one way, does not mean you have to do it the same way. I'm neither good nor bad at it. I do what feels right to me."_

 _"Sounds complicated."_

 _"Because you over think it. But that's okay. In time, you will learn. And you will understand."_

A warmth filled Drift's Spark. The memories continued to flow, the ones that made him happy, not the ones that gave him pain. Reality vanished around him, and as that soft voice continued to speak to him, a single word left his lips in a longing, mourning whisper.

"Wing..."


	8. Centuries

_Some legends are told..._

 _Some turn to dust or to gold..._

 _But you will remember me..._

 _Remember me, for centuries..._

 _And just one mistake, is_ _all it will take..._

 _We'll go down in history..._

 _Remember me for centuries..._

 _~Centuries - Fall Out Boy_

* * *

Charlotte Mearing was not a patient woman.

The very notion of retaining patience normally had her in a foul mood. She'd click a pen against her office desk incessantly, purse her lips into a thin line, click her six inches heels against the floor. She wanted results when she wanted them. That simple.

Unfortunately, there were factors preventing her from getting the answers she wanted. Factors like a corrupt government corrupted by a corrupt government agent with corrupt views of what was right or wrong.

Throwing her out of her position, for example. Not exactly a _right_ choice to make, in her opinion.

Sleazy move, talking behind her back and convincing the president she was a bad influence in the government system. Attinger knew he couldn't kick her out himself - she had been a superior, after all. So he did what she considered the most childish and revolting thing an official could do.

All because he hated robots. And she worked with them.

 _So much for that Autobot liason promotion._ She thought bitterly.

Her sharp eyes oversaw the commotion around her through thick-rimmed glasses, and she grasped the railing of the catwalk with an iron grip. Her mouth set in a thin line, as it usually would, and watched over what she had managed to develop the past four years. It had a rough start and was a tedious process, but that was kind of expected when running a secret organization in a secret base right under the government's nose.

She hated to admit it, but Simmons proved useful for once. He was the only reason this whole scene before her was even existing. The government was quick to shut down Sector 7, and yet they had left it's base entirely intact and functional. And easy to hijack.

Wasn't like that was her problem now, she no longer worked for it. Hoover Dam was now her greatest advantage, and they didn't even know. Not yet. Hopefully she can accomplish what needs to be done before her little party down below gets compromised.

Made up of former N.E.S.T. soldiers, researchers, technologists, scientists and the like, Mearing was looking down at a little something she liked to call S.A.V.I.O.R.

Strategic Autobot, Veteran, and Intersteller Operations Refuge.

In other words, a sad revamp of N.E.S.T. that she had managed to throw together in attempt to salvage what Attinger had managed to destroy. It was a sanctuary for survivors, human or not, of the rather violent, bloody, and abrupt ending of the N.E.S.T. operation. Unfortunately, a good amount of the non-human residents at the Chicago base didn't make it out. And if they did, they escaped and were never seen again, hiding somewhere within the country like fugitives that they did not deserve to be.

Normally, Attinger's forces got to an Autobot before hers could. He killed before she could save.

So far, only one successful rescue. A useful one, at that.

Her phone buzzed in her suitcoat pocket. She answered it, and heard a voice that tended to give her a migraine about 90% of the time. _"Hate to rain on your pride parade up there princess, but you might wanna take a look at this."_

Mearing almost hung up. Almost. "Simmons, if this is yet _another_ waste of my time-"

" _The kiddos got something."_

"Of use?"

 _"Autobot sighting."_

"...A moment."

She ended the call before he said anything remotely stupid. She wasn't in the mood for it. Mearing descended the catwalk ramp with haste, and made her way to the opposite side the the base, where the unofficial "technology corner" was established. The base was barely even half the size of the previous N.E.S.T. base in Chicago, rendering it more then a little cramped for space between different sections with different specialists.

Then again, Hoover Dam hadn't originally been built to hold more then a couple hundred for a population.

Mearing reached the technological wing. Her eyes scanned the area of desks with monitorsome, and the people operating on them. A voice suddenly called from up above, "Director Mearing?"

She looked up, and met eyes with a young Australian blonde on the catwalk above, who gave her a beckoning wave and a sheepish smile, "Apologies, but we had to move our counsoles up here."

Mearing wasted no time climbing up the stairs, and strode towards the small group hovered around the central counsole, eyeing the three young technologists. The Australian blonde, Maggie Madson, pursed her lips as Mearing regarded her. The boy beside her, an analyst who had trained with Maggie by the name of Spencer Collins simply stared, his long brown hair and disheveled mess, like he'd been in front of the screen for hours on end with no sleep. Which was probably the case. The third was a young black boy, slightly round, and dark eyes wide as he looked at the director. Glenn Whitmann.

Behind the three of them, Seymour Simmons stood oddly silent.

"I've been informed you three found something of interest."

They nodded slowly. Mearing's temper flared, "Snap to it then. _Now_. I don't have all day."

"Right, um..." Maggie gestured towards Spencer and Glenn, and the two immediately went to their laptops as she explained, "Well, we've spent the past week searching up anything related to a sighting. Reports, pictures, footage, anything."

"Tell me something I don't already know." Mearing snapped, "You're wasting my time, Madson."

"Be at ease, my lady," Simmons said, and Mearing felt her eye twitch, "I trust our young analysts just happened to grab some sweet, sweet info."

"An Autobot?"

"Yeah," Glenn answered plugging his laptop into the larger screen of the main counsole, "And, uh... something more."

The big screen flashed on, and a few popup screens appeared. The video feed was glitchy and there was static in it's audio. At first, it was nothing but static lines that gave Mearing a headache just looking at, until the feed cleared, and she realized she was looking at footage from surveillance cameras, green with night vision. Another window popped up, an online article featuring the headline, "Alien Sighting in California Warehouse near San Diego!"

"Apparently one of our 'Bots was found hiding in a warehouse way out in Cali a little over a week ago." Spencer said, scrolling through the article, "Good thing is, he got away."

Mearing fixed her glasses, and Simmons snorted, "Wonder which one of the big idiots thought _that_ was a good idea."

"I happened to run across this article not too long ago," Spencer continued, "So we did some digging, located the warehouse and, well, worked our magic like we always do and sniffed out some footage of the incident."

"Do we have an identification on the Autobot?"

Maggie shifted her feet, "Yes and no."

Mearing narrowed her eyes. "That's not an answer."

"What she means," Glenn objected, "Is that... well, lemme show you instead."

With that, Glenn started the footage.

"This was taken from inside the building."

There was a few minutes of seemingly no activity as the video went on. The group remained quiet, waiting and watching closely, when there was finally movement at a corner. A massive form moved past the camera, slowly, as if it were sneaking. It was undoubtedly a Cybertronian, it's plating gleaming off the camera's night vision.

Glenn sped up the footage briefly, about fifteen minutes, and the Cybertronian backed into the camera's view, folded down into an impossibly small car, and drove out of view.

 _Bugatti. Interesting._

And it was _big,_ at least a good thirty feet in height. Taller then most Autobots, Mearing noted. In the back of her head, she safely ruled out a couple names and wracked her memory for a matching profile. "You are sure this is an Autobot?"

Spencer paused the footage, reversed it, and zoomed in on the Cybertronian's torso. An Autobot insignia shone on the broad chest plate.

The analyst looked up at Mearing, "Positive."

"Look at 'im," Simmons stepped forward and pointed up at the paused image, his pointer finger tracing over features as he spoke, "Guy's gotta kabuto goin' on around the head. Intricate armor placing, layered plating and... well would ya look at these."

Simmons pointed at a pair of gleaming objects pointed up on the Cybertronian's back, the sharp tips barely visible behind the shoulders. Mearing hummed, "Swords."

"Swords," He confirmed, "You got a samurai on record or did someone get the ultimate makeover? Eh?"

"Oh God he's a weeaboo." Glenn said.

Simmons reeled, "Weea-what now?"

" _Nothing_ , ignore him," Maggie shook her head, "No, we never had an Autobot with big swords like that. The only Autobot who really used melee tactics was, well, Dino."

"That hardly resembles Mirage." Mearing stated firmly.

Spencer held up a finger, "That's because it isn't. But _this_ is."

He pressed something on his laptop, and the video feed switched to the outside of the warehouse. A few moments of nothing, and then it appeared. Or rather, _he_ appeared. The air fizzled around a small area by the gates, and a bright red Ferrari appeared out if thin air. It remained stationary for a minute, and then hit the gas and sped around to the front of the warehouse.

A small silence followed, Mearing taking in the information before inquiring, "We are looking at two different Autobots in the same area, aren't we?"

"It would seem so," Maggie nodded, "One we know and one that... may be a newcomer. I suspect he might have landed sometime after N.E.S.T was destroyed."

"He's a little late to the party, don't you think?" Simmons commented dully. "This all the footage you kids coüld snatch?"

"Mostly, yeah," Spencer said, and then added shamefully, "It would seem that the rest of the footage around that time was... compromised, including outside footage of when Cemetery Wind arrived and what all went down. I'm sure I don't have to clarify who did the compromising."

"The government," Mearing murmured, "Bastards."

"We've got one last piece of footage, however," Maggie said, "One which we've been working on as of lately. Glenn, if you'd please..."

Glenn whirled back around and typed on his laptop, "Comin' right up. I just so happened to nab this clip not too long ago."

With one last press of a key, Glenn brought up yet another window on thr big screen, with what seemed to be additional surveillance footage from inside the building. What it showed was possibly the most astonishing piece of footage yet.

It was the same samurai-like Cybertronian, the one neither Mearing nor anyone else could identify. He (assuming "he" as Mearing quickly saw that the majority of them tended to be male) was kneeled down and seemed to hunch over something. _Someone_. Thanks to the down-view of the camera, there was a clear view of a tiny figure of a human before him. A _girl_ , in fact, with casual clothing, a petite body figure, and long hair as black as night itself. She had a large metal finger in her hands, and looked up as she seemed to speak to the Cybertronian.

The incredible scene only lasted for a few moments. The Cybertronian suddenly got up and the two of them separated, the samurai disappearing to the back of the building and the young girl turning around, unmoving, like she was ready to face what was coming her way. The screen fizzled out into static seconds later, leaving the viewers to comprehend what they had seen.

"So we've got ourselves a little helper." Simmons said, rubbing his chin, "Hadn't had one o' those since Witwicky."

"A civilian aiding an Autobot..." Mearing said, "An unfamiliar one, at that. And a visual of Mirage being in the same area. She could be with them both. Have you been able to identify this girl?"

"We're working on it..." Spencer said, and a window popped up featuring a very long lost of names, "We only get a few frames of her face before it cuts out, and none of us have been able to salvage any more footage. Limited equipment basically means shit resolution, so we're kinda stuck narrowing down name after name of people with those physical features who definitely wouldn't have been there."

"And how far have you gotten?"

"So far?" Maggie frowned, "...About 2.4 million profiles to go through still..."

Simmons made a hissing noise, "Ouch. That's gonna take precious time that we can't afford."

"No, but this still stands as one of our best leads," Mearing pulled out her phone, looked at it once, and pointed at the analysts, "I want you to continue searching for a match. As time consuming as it is, I trust in your abilities to find a way as you've done in the past. I want frequent check-ins, and results as soon as you discover a possible matching profile. I'll take it from there. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" They said simultaneously, and when Mearing scowled, Maggie quickly corrected, "Erm, yes _Director_. I believe we meant to say 'Director'."

Said director simply gave a curt nod, and descended the catwalk. Footsteps padded behind her, and Simmons spoke as he followed her, "Why the rush?"

"It's no business of yours."

"I supplied you and your little secret operation with a base. I like to think that earns me a little intel."

Mearing whipped around in an instant, her finger jabbing the former agent's chest as he halted, "The _only_ reason you're here is because I need someone to maintain this operation while I do what needs to be done. Nothing more, nothing less. I can assure you I'd have someone else doing it if I had another suitable choice."

"Technically, you do."

"Technically, he's unavailable. Speaking of which..." Mearing pulled up her phone and scrolled through her contacts, "Prowl will want to know about this."

Simmons cocked his head to the side, "Where is he, anyway? I don't advise leaving our only refugee somewhere out in the open. Could get his overly logical processors blasted out of 'im, know what I'm saying?"

"I can assure you that Prowl is safe. He's currently... running errands for me."

"Such as?"

"Assisting my... whistleblower."

"Why am I not surprised." Simmons shook his head, sporting that smug smirk that, at one point, used to draw her in every time, "Charlotte Mearing, always having connections."

The finger on his chest turned into a flat palm, and the director ended up staring at him for what seemed like a long time. She could feel it; the cracks in the hard mask she'd developed over the years, prying apart ever more. How was it that only _he_ could manage that? She had a good feeling it was because of one simple fact: Simmons could understand her, as insane as that truth was. He'd seen through her many times, and knew her better then practically anyone else.

Sure, there was a fling, but they were young, and that wasn't why she'd left the bed first thing the next morning. She'd felt something _more_ , and being the complicated woman she tended to be, especially at that age, she simply let whatever it was die out before it could even start. It was still something she mulled about years and years later. And here she was, stuck working with him again, feeling a tint of those complicated feelings, wondering what was in that look he was giving her.

Mearing's phone rang in her free hand. Her eyes dipped down to look at the caller ID, looked up, and patted Simmons's chest once, "There's something I need to take care of, and I need you to watch S.A.V.I.O.R. in my absence. Can you do that for me?"

"For you?" The former agent grinned, "Always."

The director's lips twitched into the smallest of smiles, one only he would ever be able to see, "Thank you."

With his hands clasped firmly behind his back, Simmons nodded once and walked away. Mearing stated after him for only a moment before answering her phone, turning the other way, "Fowler-"

 _"WOMAN!"_ A deep, male voice bellowed, _"The shit I risk my blasted behind for you, I swear!"_

"Tell me you didn't fail."

" _I didn't_." Fowler said, _"Let's just say they weren't kidding when they said 'maximum security'. They've got the White House locked up tight, that's all I'm gonna say. The Pentagon probably ain't much better. Gonna take me some effort to get in there_."

"And Prowl?"

 _"Safe and right here in the metal."_ Fowler replied. A shuffle over the phone. Then, a new and rich voice spoke, _"Indeed, Director, I am well. Agent Fowler has done well to ensure my safety in both public and government areas."_

"This is good." Mearing took a sweep of the base while she spoke, "What do you have for me?"

 _"Well, after squeezing into some meetings and doing some snooping, I found out about an Artic expedition a couple months ago._ " Fowler explained, _"An expedition that's got files with the word 'Cybertronian' written all over it. And yes, I mean that literally."_

"An expedition?" Mearing tapped her phone with a finger, "And what was so Cybertronian about it?"

 _"Apparently a heavily metallised dinosaur fossil."_ Fowler said, and Mearing froze _, "That's the jist of it, at least. I got the details here tucked into a totally-not-stolen folder."_

"Stolen?! Fowler, the last thing I need to worry about is you getting caught! You are my only eyes from the inside!"

 _"Relax. I replaced it."_

"With what?!"

 _"Don't worry about it."_ She wished she could punch that smug look off of his face through her device, _"I've got it all under control, Director, don't you worry one bit."_

"I always worry when you're involved in it."

Prowl was chuckling in the background as Fowler sputtered. _"Have a little faith in me, Mearing. I've gotten you this far."_

"You won't be getting me much further if you are not careful."

 _"As amusing as this is, I believe it is most logical if we remain on task,"_ Prowl said, _"We have learned that the geologist who had gone to the Artic expedition was Darcy Tirrel. After discovering the fossils, I have determined while searching through government files that she was requested to share her knowledge to a company called KSI, or Kinetic Solutions Incorporated. We have yet to determine the purpose of the company, but it is undoubtedly connected to Attinger and his mission to exterminate Cybertronians."_

The director's phone buzzed, and she looked down at the screen to see a mini profile being uploaded on it, most likely from the Autobot strategist as he spoke. Darcy Tirrel was indeed a geologist, full PhD graduate, twenty-six years of age, blonde, and Australian.

" _Aaaand_ ," Fowler added, _"We've got intel that she's currently on a plane which is routed straight to the Chicago international airport. Right where the KSI headquarters are located."_

"You're aren't possibly inferring what I think you are."

 _"Of course I am. Compromising Miss Tirrel before she reaches her destination may be our ticket into Attinger's whole dirty operation."_

"We cannot just simply _kidnap_ the geologist, Fowler, you of all people know this!" Mearing protested, and lowered her voice when the outbursts earned her onlookers. "That is a chance I am not going to take if it means endangerment of I and everyone else here. Not after the blood, sweat and tears I've put into S.A.V.I.O.R."

 _"This may be our only chance, Director,"_ Prowl said, " _Either we take it or lose it forever._ "

"This is unbelievable."

 _"You got a better idea?_ " Fowler said.

Placing her forehead between two fingers, Mearing sighed. She remained that way for a moment, two moments, before her head, snapped up suddenly. She turned around and looked up at the catwalk she had been on earlier, with the small group of analysts. Her eyes caught onto a headfull of blonde hair up above, held up in a ponytail, and looked between Maggie and Darcy's profile while asking, "When does Tirrel land?"

Prowl answered, " _Approximately twenty-four hours from now, Director... may I ask why?_ "

"...I have an idea, and one that will prove more effective then Fowler's. Fowler, your work here is done for now. It is time for you two to return to us and share the expedition files."

" _Already on it, Director_ ," Fowler said, and then inquired curiously, " _What do you have goin' on inside that head of yours?"_

"You will be informed when you arrive," She replied simply, "Prowl, it's time for you to put that disguise to good use. I'm assigning you to a new associate who will aid you in the compromise of this Darcy Tirrel as soon as she lands."

 _"Understood, Director. I will await your next command for this mission."_

"Good. Now, if you boys will excuse me, I need to make a call with the one who will be running this task with Prowl."

With that, Mearing hung up and dialed another number.

"Lennox, I realize that you have only just been reunited with your family, but I require you back at base. There is something I need you to do..."


	9. Ready, Aim, Fire

**NOTE: This is the latest rewritten/up-to-date chapter, every chapter after this still needs to be rewritten and edited and will be fairly soon. You guys are amazing for hanging in there, and your support is what keeps me going! Thank you for your patience!**

 _With our backs to the wall, the darkness will fall..._

 _We never quite thought we could lose it all..._

 _Ready, aim, fire, ready, aim, fire..._

 _An empire's fall in just one day..._

 _You close your eyes and the glory fades..._

 _Ready, aim, fire, ready, aim, fire away..._

 _Ready, aim, fire, ready, aim, fire away..._

 _~Ready, Aim, Fire - Imagine Dragons_

* * *

"You can't be serious."

"We've never been more serious."

Maggie flipped through the pages of the files handed to her in disbelief, and tossed them back onto the meeting table with her head shaking, "You want me to _pretend_ to be this geologist?! You all are insane if you think this is possibly going to work."

"Call us crazy all you want, little lady, but this is the best chance we have." Fowler said from across the round table, his arms resting atop it with his fingers interlaced, "Whether you like it or not, it's gotta happen. We've already fabricated a plan to make this work. We have less then ten hours and it needs to be put into action _now_."

"I can't do this."

"You can," Mearing said, seated next to Fowler. "And you will."

"I-" Maggie fumbled over her words, and then sighed and placed her head in her hands, leaning over the table. "I can't believe this."

"Now wait just a second."

A new voice spoke up, and all eyes were on the man sitting at the opposite end of the table, beside Maggie, "You can't just force something like this on her. I mean, come on. She's an _analyst_ , not an _actress_. What makes you so sure she can even pull this off?"

Maggie's head snapped up, "Thank you-!"

"We don't have a choice, Lennox." Mearing bit out testily, "She is the only person who could possibly pull off this imitation of Darcy Tirrel."

Maggie pulled out a paper that had Darcy's profile, wrinkled her nose, and mumbled as she shoved it away, "I look nothing like her..."

"You look enough like her." Mearing said. "Enough to where we can make changes to her records without too much of a difference."

Lennox shook his head, "All right. Fine. So how are we going about this terrible idea, anyways?"

"It is rather simple."

Yet another voice spoke up from his end of the table. A man looking in his thirties, an average healthy build, firm but sharp facial features, clean-shaven with dark brown hair, and blue eyes brighter then a star. He leaned forward onto the table, hands clasped together in a too-professional way, his gaze constantly evaluating and calculating as he spoke, "As Agent Fowler had mentioned earlier, we have approximately twenty hours or less to act upon this plan. Twenty hours before Darcy Tirrel lands. Undoubtedly she will have an armed escort, having been sent to a location by the government themselves. She possesses precious knowledge of her findings, and it will be probable that there will be precautions taken to get her safely to KSI Headquarters."

Lennox frowned, "You're saying that we need to grab her before she gets to her escort?"

"No, he's saying that we need to grab her _as_ her escort." Fowler answered, and he received equally astonished looks from Lennox and Maggie as he continued, "There's no tactical way to get to Miss Tirrel before she reaches them. Chances are, they'll be waiting for her at the terminal. It'll be in public, so we can't just take 'em out and tag her and bag her, either."

"You want me to take out the escorts before they reach the airport, don't you."

Fowler smiled, "You and I, Major. It'll be fun."

"Once the two of you have taken place of the former escorts and have secured Miss Tirrel, I will play my role." the bright-eyed man stated, "Director Mearing has claimed I put my alternate mode to use, and as such, we have determined that the best way to transact the trade-placement between Miss Madson and Miss Tirrel is if I impersonate as a standard officer with Miss Madson accompanying me and take action against your vehicle."

Maggie blinked a few times, trying to wrap her head around the information, "Let me get this straight. You all are saying that Lennox and Agent Fowler are going to take out the potential escorts, pretend to be these escorts, pick up Darcy Tirrel, drive towards the KSI headquarters, Prowl will pretend to pull you over and we just... switch her with me?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Mearing nodded affirmatively.

A short silence followed.

"I mean..." Lennox pulled the files closer to him from Maggie, "It _could_ work... but even if we get her in, how are we going to keep in contact without endangering her? How do you plan on maintaining her cover before someone finds out, and for how long?"

"That is something I'm having the analysts assist me on." Mearing answered, "You don't need to worry. I've considered and thought through all angles."

"When are we leaving, then?" Maggie asked. Fowler and Mearing stood up from their chairs, and the agent gestured for the rest of them to do the same, "Preferably? Now. Grab your things, Miss Madson, we've gotta rush to Chicago, pronto."

"That's the thing," Lennox said, standing up as they began to clear the room. The soldier brought his hands out in questioning motions, "We're in Nevada. It's going to take at least twenty-four hours to drive from here all the way to Chicago. Even if we're all packing into Prowl, there's no way he's going to be able to race us there in time."

Mearing and Fowler stopped at the door. They exchanged a glance, looked at an amused Prowl, and then to Lennox and Maggie with the same, nearly impish smirks, "Who said we were driving?"

They walked out without another word, leaving the soldier and the analyst dumbfounded. Maggie turned to Prowl, who's expression was as neutral as it always was, "Don't just stand there. You have any idea on what they're talking about?"

The tactician gave the smallest of smiles as he led them out of the meeting room and into the base's main area, "Perhaps you are unenlightened on the form of transportation that Mearing has acquired."

"Uh. Yeah."

"Well then, right this way."

The three of them weaved through the bustle of the base, and Lennox eventually struck up conversation after watching Prowl's from curiously, "The holoform thing seems to be working well for you, huh?"

Prowl slowed, and brought his arms up to examine them as they walked, "It would seem so. It is... odd, taking this shape. And yet having the abilities to sense and interact as a human being would I find is rather intriguing."

"I always found it pretty amazing," Maggie said from Prowl's other side, carefully touching Prowl's palm with one of her own, "The fact that Wheeljack and Ratchet were able to come up with software for a solid hologram that Autobots could install and use on command. We're lucky S.A.V.I.O.R. scientists were able to salvage the project from N.E.S.T. files and finish it before the government got a hold of it..."

Maggie trailed off. The sounds of powerful turbines filled the base. Prowl seemed completely unaffected by the sudden noise and continued walking, a confused Lennox and Maggie in tow. They didn't get much further until he source came into view. People cleared a path as it taxied through the base, and Lennox nearly lost his voice, "Is that-?"

"A C-17? Yes." Mearing answered coming up behind them with Fowler at her side, "Should prove useful for our cause."

"A C-17?!" Lennox turned to face Mearing, his hands gesturing to the military aircraft in disbelief, "A _C-17?!_ Where the _hell_ did you get a _C-17?!_ "

"You seem to forget, Lennox. I have connections."

"What kind of connections do you have where you can steal military aircraft?"

"It was not stolen, soldier. It was loaned."

"By who?!"

"The Air Force, of course," Fowler patted Lennox on the shoulder, "Turns out, some military branches are as unhappy with the government as we are. After making some calls, I managed to come in contact with a neutral Air Force base who'll let us slide by. We happen to have some air buddies working in the Scott Air Force Base who'll help sneak us in and sneak us out. We'll be in Chicago before you can say 'Prime'."

Maggie stared wide-eyed, "You guys never cease to amaze me."

"Oh yeah," Fowler turned to a still-dumbfounded Lennox and pointed towards the C-17, "Our liaison to the Air Force? In the cockpit. You should probably say hi."

The government agent smiled and turned away, following Mearing as she shouted out commands to the Air Force soldiers exiting the cargo plane. Maggie headed back to the technology corner, presumably to grab what she needed, and Prowl nodded once to Lennox before his form fizzled and his holoform dissolved into nothing. The soldier decided to do what he was advised and headed to the open cockpit of the plane. In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Prowl, in his alternate mode as a black and white Dodge Charger police car, being loaded into the cargo area.

"Hey, man. I missed ya." A teasing voice said when he approached the cockpit, and Lennox looked up to see an Air Force soldier pressing some controls while removing his headgear. Tall, African-American and smiling, he sat in the pilot's seat and twisted to face Lennox, "Don't you guys worry, I'll get y'all in and out of Chicago safely."

The man offered a hand, and Lennox took it with a grin wider then he'd had in years.

"Epps, you son of a bitch."

* * *

 _"Are you sure that this is safe, little one?"_

"Oh yeah, done this plenty of times."

Mirage sat behind a big building at the edge of a town just miles from where they resided. The shadows shrouded his vehicular mode, keeping him well hidden in the darkness of night. Aiko sat in his driver's seat, looking for her hodie in her bag before she got out. "Do me a favor and stay here, okay?"

 _"Aiko, I really do not think-"_

"-that this is a good idea?" Aiko glanced out of her window as she spoke, "You're right, it's probably not. But I have to try. I want to see if any of the news says anything about another Autobot and where it might be. Maybe we can find more of you."

 _"There may not be any more of us, little one."_

She paused, noting the sad tone. It was hard to imagine herself in his place. Trapped in a foreign planet, surrounded by foreign specimens, most of which are a threat, and knowing that he and one other could be the only two left of their entire race. It was a wonder how Mirage was coping with that ugly truth. Aiko frowned and rubbed her thumb on the wheel, over the Autobot insignia, hoping that the action was at least a little comforting to him, "You don't know that. Maybe they're still out there, and I'm going to help you find them."

She gripped the door handle, ready to exit Mirage until he asked, _"Why?"_

"Why what?"

 _"Why are you so determined to help me... help us?"_ Mirage paused for a moment, _"You show a compassion that I have not seen out of any human being for a long, long time. As a civilian, I am sure you have been informed of how destructive and dangerous and invasive we are, and yet you do not hesitate to aid Drift or I, or even other Cybertronians that you're willing to search for. I am curious... why?"_

An image of Drift flashed in her mind, and she realized that he had, in his own way, asked the same question. Relaxing back into the seat, Aiko stared for a moment, "Have you ever lost anyone really important to you?"

Mirage remained silent.

"I mean- I'm sorry, that was a stupid question." she shook her head, "Of course you have. I- what I mean to say is that you've basically lost everyone... everything, right? You guys have no friends, no family, and no home. You guys have absolutely nothing because it's all been ripped away from you."

 _"...This is true."_

"And I don't doubt that every single one of you are scared."

 _"Very probable."_

"So why do I want to help so badly?" Aiko looked down, "I... I know how that feels."

 _"Pardon?"_

"I have nothing Mirage. I have no friends or family and I don't have a home. Hell, I grew up in the streets and I've been transferred to more foster homes then I care to remember. Some I'd much rather not remember. What I had before got destroyed. It's all been ripped away from me, and I'm scared. Just like you. Just like Drift. Just like every one of you hiding somewhere in this country. I have nothing to do in my life anymore. I can't save myself, but maybe, just maybe, I can save others from going through what I am. I lost someone important to me a long, long time ago. I searched for years and years and years for them, but I know I'll never find them now. I have no hope for myself. So let me help you find who you've lost. You guys don't deserve to feel that pain."

 _"If I may ask... what is it that happened to you?"_

Aiko paused for a moment, her eyes distant, "My parents were killed in the Battle of Mission City. My sister and I were sent around to find relatives to live with, but when there wasn't any, we got dumped into foster homes, and we grew up that way. Well... I did."

 _"... I am very sorry."_

"You don't need to apologize for what the Decepticons did." she gripped the steering wheel with one hand, her eyes locking onto Mirage's insignia, "I blame them. They were the ones who started all this fighting. Mission City, Egypt, Chicago... all of it. All you Autobots wanted to do was to protect us. I wish people would stop listening to the government and see that. I'd rather help you, an Autobot, then turn you in, because even if you're just as dangerous and destructive as a Decepticon, I know you fought in those battles to try and protect my parents rather then hurt them."

Mirage was quiet for a moment, and then said softly, _"You choose to nourish us even when it was Cybertronians who took your life away from you. You are a very merciful human being, Aiko. If only there were more like you."_

She sighed softly, "If only."

 _"I... noticed that you mentioned a sibling?"_

"Yep."

 _"It has come to my notice that this sibling seems to be missing."_

"Yep."

Mirage went silent, put off by her blunt answers and choosing to respectfully stop inquiring. Sensing his discomfort, Aiko quirked her lips before admitting with a distant tone, "My sister hated Cybertronians. She hated them for killing our parents. Granted, she was older then me and I can't remember much, but... I don't think she cared whether one was an Autobot or a Decepticon. She wanted them all dead for what they did to us. A part of me can't blame her, I was too young at the time to understand. She was taken away from me a long time ago. Never seen her since."

 _"I see."_ Mirage said, and the conversation seemed to have ended there. Aiko patted his door and the small Autobot opened for her. _"I emphasize that you be cautious, Aiko. I shall be watching."_

"I get the feeling that you're going to be following me around as an invisible car."

 _"I might. Espionage is my specialty."_

"Funny. How is it that you can do that anyways?" she asked, reaching back in to grab her hoodie and pull it over herself, "Cloak yourself, I mean."

 _"Some Cybertronians are just born with gifts. Abilities."_ Mirage replied, and with that, his entire form vanished faster then she could blink, _"It comes natural."_

Aiko gave a small smile, and touched Mirage's hood with a hand, rubbing the invisible surface before walking out of the alley, "Whatever you say. I'll be back, just going to drop into a couple convenient stores in town and see if I can pick up on any sightings."

 _"Hurry along, then. You know how Drift gets when we are gone for too long."_

Few people were out this late at night. Aiko walked on the sidewalk with her hands stuffed into her front pocket and her hood over her head, keeping her face tilted down as to avoid attention. The town had a number of stores open all night in her favor. The town itself seemed to have been built as more of a rest stop area for travelers. Some stores had a television on, and some didn't. She wandered around empty aisles for at least twenty minutes each time, getting nothing out of the televisions she attempted listening in on. No news of sightings, or deaths, or even warnings or precautions.

Having been used to hearing it all, she found it odd and more than a little suspicious that no news channel seemed to want to utter a thing about the issue with Transformers on the loose. Did it mean there might not be any more? Possibly, and the thought unsettled her.

Aiko had been fiddling around with clothing racks when she absentmindedly glanced up, her eyes spotting something eerily sitting alone in the parking lot through the wide window. The yellow glow of parking lights shone over the shiny surface of a single car. It was low-sitting, sleek, and as black as night. She felt herself tense, a great big wave of uneasy déjà vu washing over her. An exotic car sitting alone, coincidentally across from the store she was in? She had a feeling that Mirage would be around, watching her from afar, but she knew, she _knew,_ that whatever was sitting there staring at her, chilling her to her very core, was not him.

A shirt slipped from her fingers and her mind, as well as her heart, began to race.

 _Is it an Autobot or a Decepticon?_

 _Is it going to hurt me?_

 _Does it know me?_

 _Is it trying to communicate with me?_

 _Is it dangerous?_

 _What do I do?_

 _What do I say?_

"Nice car, isn't it?"

Aiko could have jumped five feet in the air. Her breath caught and she just barely managed to stifle her yelp from the voice right behind her. Her hands flew to her chest, struggling to control her rapid heart. A tall and built form rounded her, and she slowly looked up at the man. Graying hair, dangerous dark eyes, sharp jawline, and a firm thin-lipped mouth, he looked like a man who came straight out of Vietnam. Her eyes couldn't tear away from the deep scars on his face; one across the bridge of his nose, one on the right side of his temple, and one stretching down the right side of his face and over the cheekbone.

The man smirked and then gazed out the window, as though he hadn't noticed her nervous evaluation of him. He had his hands neatly behind his back as he spoke, "Lamborghini Aventador. Ever seen one before?"

Aiko's mouth parted, but no words came out. Her skin pricked with goosebumps from the chilling situation, and her eyes darted back and forth. Once she managed to regain her ability to speak, she swallowed thickly and asked in a voice smaller than she intended, "Is it yours?"

"I like to think that it owns itself."

 _Oh._

"It's-uh... it's nice."

The man looked down at her with an entirely unfriendly smile. Aiko prepared herself to run. He tilted his head at her, like she was something he was thinking about preying on, "Would you like to get a closer look?"

A hand touched the small of her back, and she reacted. She twisted away from his arm, putting space between them. She laughed airily, nervously, and smiled too widely for it to be genuine or believable. She didn't care. She wanted to get away from him. She wanted to go find Mirage so he could take her away from him. She wanted to be safely back with her Autobots. "I-You know what? It's late. It's really late, isn't it? I need to go. My-uh, my parents will be... looking for me. So... yeah, uh. Nice car. Bye."

She rushed through the door before he could say another thing. She paused only for a moment to fix her hood, and in that time she dared to steal a glance at the Lamborghini. It's black form remained parked where she remembered it. The feeling of it truly watching her was unbearably creepy. Aiko took a deep breath and speed-walked away, back onto the sidewalk, determined to get as far away as she could, oblivious to the low hum of the car starting up as soon as she turned away.

The man walked casually out of the store, his eyes trailed after Aiko as she rounded the store corner and disappeared. The Lamborghini inched forward out of it's parking space, waiting until he nodded affirmatively before slowly rolling out of the lot. The man brought a phone to his ear, "Savoy? We found her."

Aiko was close to running. She backtracked quickly, back to the alleyway where she'd left Mirage, praying that he was still there. She heard the soft rev of an engine distantly behind her. Glancing behind her, she felt as if oxygen had been stripped from her lungs when she saw the haunting dark form of the Lamborghini behind her. It was relatively far from her, far enough to where it wouldn't seem like it was following her. It cruised down the road slowly, like it was taunting her to run so it could chase her down.

 _Dammit, why is this town so empty?_

She crossed a crosswalk, taking a sharp right turn around a corner. She heard nothing for a few agonizing minutes, allowing her to believe that maybe she was imagining things, being too paranoid. The reassuring thoughts died as soon as they came, when she heard that ever stirring engine. She didn't need to look back to know that it had also took a right turn, the deceivingly soft purring of its engine sounding even closer then it was before.

 _It's following me. It's following me._

Someone appeared at the end of the street, in front of the next crosswalk. It was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman at her distance, but she took the chance. She ran despite herself, the adrenaline coursing through her body, "HEY! I need help! Please, help me! He-"

The person turned around, and Aiko stopped dead in her tracks. The man smiled at her, sporting black wear and a bulletproof vest, "Hello, Aiko. Remember me?"

She was momentarily frozen in place. Her wide eyes stared disbelievingly at Savoy, while her ears remained trained on the Lamborghini getting ever closer behind her. She looked back at it, looked at Savoy, and ran into the dark alley between them, unknowingly diving right into a trap of Cemetery Wind soldiers who grabbed her and held her down. She screamed and yelled and fought as they shoved her into a brick wall and handcuffed her. She made as much noise as possible hoping that somewhere, someone in the goddamn town would hear her.

"That's not going to help you." Savoy said as the soldiers yanked her from the wall to face him, "Town's empty for a reason. We had it evacuated."

"What do you want?" Aiko snapped, hissing when one of the soldiers pulled down her hood. Her dark hair let loose around her face.

"You know what I want."

"Fuck you. You're not getting them."

"Feisty thing, isn't she?" the soldier holding down her right said, the voice too familiar. She craned her head up sharply and growled at the same, scarred man who approached her in the store. He gave her that same upturned smile before looking up to Savoy, "Sir, she'll be undoubtedly uncooperative and waste our time. I can lead a search squad around the area-"

"No." he replied while staring her down, but she was too busy watching the Lamborghini not-too-subtly drive in front of the alleyway and then pause, "We have the girl. She's all we need."

Aiko stared him down for a solid minute, "How did you know I was here?"

Savoy glanced back at the dark, exotic car behind him, which rolled past the alley and out of sight, "I have my ways."

"That's not a car," she almost whispered with slow realization, "is it?"

"It's something fast enough to run down those 'Bots of yours. We'll put it that way." Savoy said with a smile.

He shouted orders at the remaining soldiers, who immediately turned and began to climb ladders that led to the top of the flat-roof buildings. Aiko felt her stomach lurch. _Mirage is here. He's in danger._

 _"Lockdown in position, sir."_ a voice from the radio speaker on his belt said aloud.

Savoy pulled out a handgun and loaded it, all the while looking at her with something akin to evil intentions. She squirmed in the other man's iron grip, "I'm not telling you where they are."

"That's okay. They'll turn up."

"You're never going to find them."

"I don't _need_ to find them." Savoy said, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear and finishing off the unsettling action with a smile, "They'll find you."

* * *

There were multiple things racing through Drift's processors when Mirage pinged him. There was definitely something not right, and he could tell. Just the way the atmosphere felt by himself. He felt unsettled, for reasons beyond him. The fact that Mirage felt the need to personally call him through com-link, even though Mirage was still very much shaken around Drift after the incident not too long ago, only reinforced his worry.

"Mirage?"

 _"Drift, we have an issue."_

Drift stopped his pacing around the lake and froze, "Is she safe?"

 _"Drift-"_

"Is she _safe?_ "

 _"I am unsure. I lost her."_

"You _lost_ her?!"

 _"In some way, yes, I did."_ Mirage said, and Drift could hear the spy panicking just as much as he was, _"I'm sending you my coordinates. We must find her and we must leave. There is something terribly off about this area and I believe it is best if we take Aiko and leave this state as soon as possible."_

"Agreed." Drift said, reading the coordinates, "On my way."

The town wasn't far at all. Only a few miles that Drift cleared in minutes with his fast alternate mode. He was aware of the dangers of going into a public area, especially as a car such as him. Exotic cars drew attention easily, but it was a sacrifice Drift was willing to make as he slowly drove into town. It was startling, really, the fact that it was ominously empty. Not a single human on the sidewalks, in the buildings, anywhere.

He would be lying if he said it wasn't even a little unnerving.

 _"Stop."_

Mirage's voice startled him into a halt. He felt the spy's presence somewhere near him. He sat on the road for a solid minute, slightly confused until a red Ferrari materialized beside him. _"You got here quickly."_

 _"I did not waste time."_ Drift replied, and after a short moment, he continued, _"This town... something is wrong."_

 _"You see it as well?"_

 _"Yes. It's empty."_

 _"Unusually so."_ Mirage replied, _"She told me to wait, and I did. But she has taken too long, and I have no indication of Aiko's whereabouts. She is here, I can feel it, but this town admittedly puts me off and... I wanted reinforcement. I have a feeling that it is not as empty here as we may think it is."_

Drift felt that way too. For a ghost town, it was awfully heavy with the overwhelming feeling of being watched. It made his armor crawl. _"You think that she was taken?"_

 _"I think that she is in danger. We must find her quickly and leave this place."_ Mirage kicked up his engine a notch and lead the way, _"She went in this direction."_

The two sports cars carefully rolled down the road, unaware of the eyes already on them.

 _"Two targets in-sight, sir. Coming down the main street. Both supercars."_

It didn't take long. Drift had been focusing on widening his sensors for any signs of humans in their vicinity when Mirage declared, _"Here! I sense her."_

 _"You... sense her?"_

Drift's confused inquiry went either unnoticed or unaddressed as the Ferrari took a sharp right. Drift quickly followed, and nearly bumped into Mirage's rear as he screeched to a stop. Carefully, he drove around Mirage, who had reversed to face the entrance of an alley.

 _"Drift, down there..."_

There was hardly enough space for them to drive side-by-side. Both Autobots sat there, staring at the small space for a moment, like both of them shared a bad feeling and neither were sure if they wanted to go down the path that could corner them into danger.

Something washed over Drift in a surreal sense, and it took a moment for him to realize it was Mirage's electromagnetic field, his gentle presence reaching out to touch his own with comforting reassurance. It almost startled Drift. It had been so long since he had been so close to another Cybertronian that he had almost forgotten the act of mingling of EM fields to express emotions to each other, or in cases like this, calm them.

Mirage sent waves of calming acceptance radiating towards Drift's own field, which had been pulled in for longer then he could remember. It was then that he realized; it was Mirage's way of taking a spare moment to say something, without saying anything at all. The red Autobot's field openly showed his emotions so that Drift could feel and read what Mirage couldn't physically say.

 _By the way, I forgive you. It's okay. We're okay._

The samurai understood the message's inference, and slowly extended his own field, allowing Mirage to feel his chaos of emotions only briefly, before clearing it and sending back waves of hesitant gratitude, with underlying signals of guilt and shame.

 _Thank you._

Drift made the first move and entered the narrow space, Mirage close behind him. At the end of the alley was what looked to be a dead end, a corner to a sharp left turn that was far too tight for either of them as vehicles to get through.

But there, sitting slouched against the wall at the end, was a person. It was too dark and too great a distance for either of them to identify immediately. However much of a risk it was, Drift was willing to take the chance in order to see if it was the person they both were desperately hoping it was.

He flashed his headlights and alerted the person to their presence. Her head shot up, familiar locks of black covering some amount of her face. The girl stared with wide, disbelieving dark eyes and shifted against the wall. Her head shook slightly as both Mirage and Drift eagerly came forward.

 _"Aiko!"_

 _"Aiko, we-"_

" _NO!_ " She screamed out, startling them both into a halt. Aiko was nearly hysterical with tears as she struggled to her feet, and the Autobots could see with a frightening realization that her hands were bound behind her back, "GO! RUN AWAY! GET AWAY, BOTH OF YOU! _RUN!"_

 _"Drift-!"_ Mirage shouted as they both shifted to reverse, but movement was all around them the moment that they attempted backing out. Men in heavy black wear with heavy weaponry appeared behind them, blocking them from escape. Drift tilted his side mirrors and could see the red laser sights on his frame, the mortars loaded, the guns and an entire missile launcher placed at his backside. Mirage was fidgeting, the alley too small for him to pull up beside Drift, forcing him back farther and closer to the weapons.

A low growl rose up in his vocalizer as Drift averted his attention back in front of him. Two men sauntered from around the corner, both standing on either side of a kneeling, panicking Aiko. They yanked her up, the cold hard metal of a pistol barrel dug into her black hair.

"Hello again." Savoy said with a cruel smirk. Aiko squirmed in the grip of the second, scarred man, the fear strong in her eyes. She stared at Drift and Mirage helplessly, and a dejected feeling struck Drift's spark when he could read her lips.

 _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

Drift's engine revved threateningly, but Savoy clicked his gun, "Either one of you makes a move and your girl gets a bullet in her head."

"How fascinating," the other man commented, tilting his head in morbid interest, "They _do_ favor young ones. She goes missing and they come running like a pair of lost puppies."

"We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way." Savoy said, "Either you can talk and we work this out civilly, or we force you to talk and, well, that might get a little ugly. Your choice."

A tense moment followed. Neither Cemetery Wind nor the Autobots made a move for a long minute. Then, after internal communication, Drift and Mirage slowly began to unfold and transform. They could hear the shifts of weapons as they rose to their true forms, and the two struggled to keep watch of both sides, cramped and cornered in the tight space of the alley.

Drift reached back to grip a sword, something Savoy seemed to catch onto. "I wouldn't if I were you."

 _"Drift, above us."_

At Mirage's voice, he slowly glanced upwards, catching sight of a long line of soldiers at the top of the building on his side and Mirage's. Their powerfully enhanced weapons clicked and aimed down at their heads. Drift clenched his jaw and released his sword, raising his arms in surrender with Mirage following suit.

 _"Missile launcher behind us, as well."_

 _"I know."_

"You're surrounded on all sides," The scarred man declared, "Either of you try to attack or escape and we'll blow your heads off so fast, your high-speed processors won't even know what happened."

Mirage was the one to speak, "Fine. What is it that you want with us?"

"Just a little bit of information is all." Savoy answered, and then added with a head nod towards the smaller Autobot, "Mirage, isn't it? Nickname's Dino?"

The spy faltered, his cerulean optics dilating. Drift tilted his head slightly.

"Thought so."

"How would you know who I am?" Mirage asked, his voice low with what seemed to be anger and suspicion.

"We know all your names." the scarred man said, but then glanced up at Drift and amended, "Most of them."

Savoy exchanged a glance with the other man before answering, "Let's just say enhanced weapons and technology weren't the only things we got out of N.E.S.T."

"Government's compromised N.E.S.T. intel after we took care of it." the scarred man continued, looking at Mirage like he was a giant, juicy piece of technology that he wanted to take apart and use, "Read their files. Documents. Data and profiles on the Autobots and their customs, their technology and their abilities."

"Like yourself," Savoy gestured at Mirage, "being able to cloak yourself. Turn invisible. N.E.S.T had you labeled as a "gifted" Cybertronian on your profile."

Mirage narrowed his optics and seethed, "It is true then. Cemetery Wind attacked N.E.S.T. when we were most vulnerable and _framed_ us for attacking first!"

Drift gave Mirage a peculiar look, whispering more to himself with a mystified tone, "N.E.S.T...?"

Both men shrugged, shamelessly confirming Mirage's accusation with no visible care in the world that they were responsible, "Sure we did. We were just following orders. Still are."

"We're here to ask you one question." Savoy said, and when both mechs gave him their attention, he went on, "Where is Optimus Prime?"

Both Autobots hesitated, their optics meeting briefly. Unbeknownst to Cemetery Wind, they had just revealed an important piece of information to them instead. They both knew that if Savoy were to ask such a question, it meant that the Prime had not been killed at their hands. Not yet, at least. He was out there, still alive. There was a short, tense pause before Drift answered through clenched dentals, "We do not know. He has been gone for years."

"Is that so…" Savoy leaned on one leg and looked up, like he was considering the answer, before sneering, "Know what, Asian-bot? I think you're lying to me."

"No-" Drift hissed, taking a threatening step forward. The soldiers all around aimed directly at him and Savoy was quick to grab Aiko, making her help, reminding Drift of the consequences if he acted out. Mirage mumbled his name in a warning, urging him to stay back.

Savoy looked down at the girl in his grip, "Tell you what. I'm gonna put a hole in your girl here, and if your answer doesn't change, _then_ maybe I'll start believing you. What do you think, Bishop?"

Bishop -the man with the facial scars- grinned, "I say it's a fine idea, sir. They always said the Autobots' greatest weakness was their soft spot for kids."

Aiko hissed at him, trying and failing to jerk out of his grip. Drift was contemplating the many satisfying ways to rip the fleshbag apart when Mirage nudged him. _"The walls."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Drift, the walls!"_ Mirage's internal voice yelled, and when Drift watched the smaller Autobot brace his shoulder, he finally caught on.

With a short nod at each other, the two moved quicker than anyone could react and slammed their shoulders into the buildings on both sides of the alley. The force of their immense strength caused the brick to give in. The entire area shook and the soldiers up above screamed and wailed as they lost balance and fell down to their deaths.

Savoy's voice yelled sharply over the screams and flying debris, "FIRE!"

"GET DOWN!" Mirage shouted, and he yanked Drift onto his knees as the whistle of a missile and mortars flew above their heads. The weapons flew past them and exploded into the building at the end of the alley. More dust and debris flew from the explosion, raining down onto Savoy and Bishop before they could get away.

"Aiko!" Drift hollered, and the girl writhed free and ran forward before she got hit with any heavy debris. The samurai quickly grabbed her and held her close as he and Mirage burst out of the alley before the buildings collapsed on them.

"This way!" Mirage said, diving into his alternate mode. Drift ran a few steps before following suit, maneuvering his transformation carefully so Aiko ended up safely in the drivers seat. The girl gripped her seat tightly as Drift surged forward with more horsepower than what an original Bugatti could ever have. His seatbelt shot out and latched itself, pulling her safely and protectively into the seat.

"Get out of this town." She said.

 _"Working on it."_ Drift answered a little too sharply.

 _"Once we get out onto the highway, we should be safe for the time being."_ Mirage said through Drift's radio, _"Their vehicles are incapable of out running us."_

At that moment, Aiko's mind flashed back to what Savoy had said to her.

 _It's something fast enough to run down those 'Bots of yours. We'll put it that way._

"Guys-" she choked out, her eyes darting to Drift's side mirror. In it's reflection was a dark, black shape. Her fear spiked when she realized that it was, indeed, catching up to them, reaching equal speeds that only another Cybertronian could possibly maintain.

Drift seemed to have seen it as well. His engine sputtered when he went to his highest gear. _"Mirage, behind us."_

 _"I see."_ the spy fell beside Drift as they pushed themselves forward, _"Keep going."_

Aiko kept her eyes trained onto the black Lamborghini. It continued to close the distance between them, and when something popped out from the side of it, Aiko yelled, "Watch ou-!"

She didn't get to finish. Something shot out from the Lamborghini and flew towards them. The missile struck the road in between Drift and Mirage and exploded. The heat scorched their armor and the force of it launch them both into the air, their alt modes somersaulting forward.

Aiko screamed as she felt Drift's entire form flip out of control. She couldn't process what happened, but she felt everything shift around her, felt something hold her tight, and felt the impact of Drift landing back onto the road. The pavement could be heard cracking under solid Cybertronian weight when Drift landed on his side, his shoulder armor screeching as he slid into a stop.

The samurai groaned softly, dazed, and slowly lowered his trembling hand from his chest, where Aiko was unharmed. She coughed, shook her head, and opened her eyes to look at him.

"Are you hurt?" he whispered. His voice cracked.

"No," she replied. Drift set her down gently and then scrambled to get up, "Get behind me-"

An explosion.

It happened so fast that Drift didn't realize what happened until he turned to see Mirage. The red Autobot had been recovering from his landing and had just gotten back on his feet. Drift had looked at him, and he had looked right back when it happened. Another massive missile, certainly not human, shot out from behind.

It whizzed through the air, and the samurai looked just in time to see it pierce through Mirage's abdominal plating when he stood up, tearing out red armor, spraying out blue liquid, and ripping out through his front. A pained wail escaped the smaller Autobot, he gripped his midsection, turned towards Drift, and he met Drift's mortified gaze with his own before he fell and collapsed to the ground.

Aiko screamed and Drift bellowed his name, the samurai running to the middle of the road where Mirage lay. The red Autobot's body shook violently, falling into a major state of shock as Drift fell to his knees at his side. The damaged pavement stained a neon blue, the liquid pooling out around Mirage. Drift's optics went to Mirage's abdomen briefly, watching broken components spark and thick energon leak through Mirage's fingers from the wound.

"No, no, no..." Drift reached up, holding Mirage's face in his hands in some attempt to calm him down, offer some type of comfort as Mirage coughed and hacked and made pitiful noises. The spy's optics met his own, wide and flickering and full of fear and pain. He gripped Drift's arms with a grip tight enough to dent, as though urging Drift to look him in the optics, and his face mask retracted, allowing full view of his face for the first time.

Drift was speechless, unable to form words and do nothing more than hold Mirage while he gaped and gasped and choked on the energon spilling from his mouth. Something in the back of his mind clicked, like some sort of abrupt connection. It pushed forward to the front of his processor, and suddenly, it wasn't Mirage who was dying in his arms.

 _"D-Drift," he murmured. A white mech fallen, trembling in his arms, his gentle golden optics flickering. His soft face ruined by an expression of despair and the stains of energon tricking from his mouth._

 _He reached up, and Drift could feel the ghost of his loving touch on the side of his face._

"DRIFT! WATCH OUT!"

Aiko's screech jerked Drift back into the present. He caught movement in the corner of his vision and jumped back, out of the way of a third missle that nearly struck him as it did Mirage. It collided with a building somewhere behind them, but Drift didn't hear the explosion.

His attention was more focused on the Lamborghini, which had transformed into a mech who Drift was glad he'd gotten another chance to kill himself. The samurai stood up, his insides feeling as though they were physically burning up from the rage boiling over Drift's thin line of control.

He briefly looked down at Mirage, who had turned into his side but remained in the same state as before. The spy seemed to have gained just enough awareness to look back up at him with glazed optics, and Drift extended his EM field, taking a spare moment to say to Mirage what he wished he could have said before.

 _You're going to be okay._

The black mech across from him smiled a sinister smile, and spoke to Drift like they were old friends, "I had a feeling we'd meet again."

Drift smiled back, a smile that promised a world of sweet pain in return for all that this mech had inflicted on him, "I hope your close-combat skills have gotten better."

Deadlock aroused, feeding off of the rage and anger and hurt swirling in the depths of Drifts spark, and for once, Drift was more than happy to let him take control.


	10. Never Too Late

**In which our trio suffers the aftermath.**

 **ASDFGHJKL- 15 Reviews for ONE chapter?! Holy mother of Primus, guys, that's incredible! Thank you SO much for the feedback! I was really hoping we could reach the 100 mark by chapter 14 since we reached 50 by chapter 7, but if we keep up 15 reviews like that, We'll reach a hundred in no time! Can we do it?**

 **I would like to address a recent review to chapter one, by a user by the name rlance03. I would have PMed you, but by the looks of it you turned your Personal Messaging off:**

 _ **"I can appreciate a well written story however you might want to consider changing your female character to not be quite so Mary-sue. Gothic whiny teenagers who hate the world and their parents are a dime a dozen on these boards. For a broader audience you need to set your characters apart from the crowd in a good way. That doesn't mean giving them super powers but a more believable character. The poor misunderstood kick ass teenager who thinks her parents are the meanest in the world is showing your characters lack any depth. I'm not trying to be mean in anyway. I see that you have some decent writing ability and hopefully you mature your characters and grow as a writer. Good luck with your story:)"**_

 **Now don't worry, I'm NOT calling you out. If anything, I'm actually glad you took the time to write this! It really is a thorough review and I have been waiting for a review like this. Thank you for the feedback. NOW, I do actually agree with what you are saying. I know Aiko may seem pretty Mary-Sue at the moment, but honestly, with so MANY OC stories, it's really hard to make up anything that CAN'T be considered Mary-Sue. Whether she's nice or mean or a drug addict or a simple average girl with a regular life or an abused one, it seems everything has been covered when it comes to making up an original character.**

 **I wouldn't really consider Aiko "Gothic" or particularly "whiny". Sure, she's a little spunky but there IS a reason why! I can, however, be guilty of the "hate the world and their parents" thing. BUT, I have made up a reason that I believe is not so Mary-Sue. At least, it's not a frequently used element for most OCs. I made Aiko this way because I want to relate her to Drift as much as possible, and for them to be able to understand one another, they'll have to have similar experiences in their lives. I can't tell you guys her story yet, of course, but I just want you guys to be informed that Aiko is indeed, more than meets the eye. (Haha... I had to put that reference in there).**

 **The ONLY reason I can't really reveal much about her is because I can't fit her arc in right now. It just doesn't blend in well with the "pre"part of the story because it's just too soon. Not to mention that the main goal of the "pre" part is to develop Drift's Bayverse character and personality since I infused so much G-1 in him. I'll give some little snippets of her life beforehand throughout the story, but the "post" part of the story will by far be the most broadest and most emotional portion of the story. Aiko will be pretty closed off for a while BECAUSE of her story, and because of that, I can perfectly see how one can see her as a shallow character since she's pretty unknown at the moment. But she will finally open up at some point after the movie. DON'T WORRY GUYS, MEXI'S GOT A PLAN. ;)**

 **Also, I ask for reviews because I love criticism like this as long as it's not utterly hateful. I do enjoy a broad audience, VERY much so, but that's not my main goal. I just want to share my ideas and writing to the world, and just a single review per chapter could even be enough to keep me going. More reviews inspire me to work faster because I know I'm being supported. I encourage you guys to share your opinions, so please don't hesitate to share your thoughts just like this reviewer. :D**

 **WARNING: Nothing TOO serious, but this chapter was even hard for me to write and edit. Angst all over the place.**

 **I OWN NOTHING BUT AIKO AND MY HEADCANNONS!**

* * *

Two large forms lay, wrapped in the darkness of the abandoned power plant site.

A young human girl sat against a pile of old crates, eyes wide, breathing ragged. A recent bundle of memories swam around her mind, reminding her constantly of how and why they ended up like this. Ambushed, injured, escapees who could do nothing but fall and succumb to the pain. Her head blared with an agonizing headache, still recovering from the second time she nearly got a bullet lodged in her skull.

A large building that was a part of the site was the best cover. It was dark and secluded. Up against the wall across from her, a large form was hunched over. Smaller than the second form, he sat with no sign of conciseness for some time now. A day, at least. A thick and capacious amount of blue seeped around underneath, flowing steadily from the wide hole located in the abdominal area.

She had a feeling he was never going to wake up again.

A little ways away, a much larger form lay, sprawled in a rather ungainly heap from when he took a step forward and suddenly collapsed with an enormous crash that had sent her ten feet in the air. It was no surprise to her, honestly. He had made it out with scorched armor, missing parts, and a heavy limp from a hip joint that looked disturbingly out of place. His once deep blue armor was stained in the front with his comrade's 'blood' from when he had held the injured Autobot in his arms. He was undoubtedly exhausted. After his frightening episode in retaliation to his comrade's fall, there was bound to be no energy left in him.

She still couldn't believe how violent he became. To think a being capable of such a _vicious_ lash back could be once afraid of someone as small as her…

Another hour of tense silence passed, and then there was a grind of metal. By natural assumption, her eyes flicked over to the larger form. The only form that would probably ever move again. It was perfectly logical to assume the robot who fainted would wake back up rather than the robot who got shot.

But the robot who fainted didn't move. The dead one did.

Apparently, he wasn't dead. How? She had no fucking clue.

Brown eyes jumped to the right, watching in utter amazement when the smaller form began to move. His head lolled to the side, and a low groan escaped him. Long, strained and painful. A pair of cerulean lights flickered on. Barely. They were so dim that she wondered if she was imagining it. She wondered if her mind simply slid into an illusion, and in a single blink, he'd be back against the wall. Lifeless and bound to stay that way.

She risked a blink. He was still moving. The impossible was possible, after all.

A moment of bewilderment passed until she snapped out of it and jumped up. A patter of footsteps followed as she sprinted across the building until she was at his side. Dim optics narrowed and dilated, seemingly adjusting focus, before they finally made their way down to the small form below. They briefly looked up, most likely at the second form not too far away. The he spoke, voice weak and laced with static, "A…Aiko…?"

"Yeah, it's me." She whispered.

"Wha…What…?" he look a careful sweep of their surroundings, clearly disorientated, "When… how…?"

"We escaped… somehow." Aiko answered. Quite honestly, she had the same questions stuck on her mind for some time now. "I'm not really sure how but we did."

"Where…?"

"We're in a power plant site. We're safe for now, Mirage."

"How did I…?"

"Drift carried you."

Mirage seemed to relax at that, but when he bent over to try and stand up, he leaned back with a low whine of pain. His arms flew up and gripped his lower torso. His optics brightened just slightly, gasping quietly as he looked down and felt the open wound. There were wires torn and red armor missing. Electrical sparks flickered occasionally inside the wound. The Autobot pressed against the injury and brought his hand up, fingers visibly shaking at the sight of neon blue liquid staining the metal.

"Do you remember what happened?" Aiko asked carefully, and when he nodded slowly, she went on to explain, "I… I don't really know what happened. Everything was just a blur after you… got shot. Thought it killed you, I really did. I started screaming and then Drift… he…"

"Drift…" Mirage craned his neck, sneaking a glance at Drift's frame. "What… did he do…?"

"He went insane, Mirage." Her voice shook, and it quickly grabbed his attention, "He just… _annihilated_ them. They didn't even have a chance. One moment he was watching you fall and the next he was in some sort of rage mode. Some of them managed to launch some mortars but other than that, they were running for their lives because Drift was about to tear them apart… like some sort of _animal_. I don't know what the _hell_ it was, but it was not Drift."

Mirage looked down, "How many… did he kill?"

"All of them, except for Savoy and maybe two other guys. I know that much. But I didn't watch. I didn't want to, because Drift scared the living shit out of me." The girl wrapped her arms around herself, suppressing a shiver, remembering Cemetery Wind trying to run from the samurai's wrath. She could still hear their hollers of fright and pain, but she had refused to see a single one of their deaths. "You should have seen him, Mirage…"

"Aiko…" He had a difficult time speaking through the static, through the throbbing pain in his systems, but he fought against it. Mirage reached down, extending shaky fingers. Aiko felt her heart crumble despite herself and held a single finger in her hands. It was significantly smaller then Drift's, as expected. He gave her an intense look, even though he was in obvious pain, "Did he… try to harm you…?"

She shook her head, thumbing the dangerously cool metal as she replied, "N-no… but for a while, I thought he was going to… and there was something wrong with his eyes…"

Mirage's Spark jumped in his casing, fearing the worst, "What was… _ngh_ … wrong with them…?"

"I don't know. They were blue like always but… I remember them glitching the whole time."

"Glitching…?"

"They were blue but… they kept flaring red."

The red Autobot shook his head, giving Drift's still form a long look. That means he was still there, but barely. He was dangerously close to becoming… _him_. Which meant this girl was dangerously close to witnessing _him_ as well. She had absolutely no clue of the amount of danger she was in at that time.

A raspy cough echoed throughout the building.

They both tensed as the second form awoke with a hacking fit. Drift's frame heaved and jerked from his rough coughs. They even sounded painful, enough to where Aiko subconsciously touched her throat and winced at every strained noise that clawed its way out of Drift's vocalizer. Slowly, his front end rose up. The samurai lifted himself from the cold hard concrete with unstable arms from where he lay on his side. His head lifted, teal optics lively bright, much unlike Mirage's. A moment passed, allowing him to focus.

"Drift?" Aiko said, almost reluctantly.

His head snapped up further in an instant. His optics widened, not at her, but above her. He began to stand up, only to fall on one knee, favoring his left hip. The dislocated one. Probably got nailed by a mortar, considering the hip joint was exposed and sparking with no armor over it. She _hoped_ it was dislocated, anyway. She wasn't sure how exactly they were going to pop a Transformer's joint back in place, but a joint out of place was better than a broken one.

Drift, by some miracle, managed to haul himself up. He used the wall for support, as well as his entire right side considering there wasn't much support on the left. He stood lopsided, and Aiko backed away to allow him to hobble forward and drop back to his knees beside Mirage.

"Drift…" he finally murmured, barely audible beneath the thick static, "Your… leg…"

"Suffered worse." Drift said tersely, voice also mixed with a layer of static, albeit not as badly as Mirage. His optics shifted downward, and he caught sight of Aiko standing not too far away. The girl stiffened, hand behind her back, fingering the pistol hidden beneath her shirt that she managed to grab before Drift took off with Mirage after he had _murdered_ the soldiers in his enraged state. She took careful note of his optics. Brilliant and teal like always. Not a hint of red.

Aiko exhaled and slowly removed her hand.

"Aiko…" Drift almost whispered, leaning down and lowering a hand palm-up to her. She remained still for a moment, contemplating, and finally came forward to touch an index finger. The metal was warm like it had always been, unlike Mirage's cooler state. She frowned apprehensively when she realized what that could mean. Then suddenly, the memories of Drift's rage came back and she jerked her hand back, as if burned. "I'm sorry… I just…"

"Are you hurt?" Drift asked, reaching for her again. The girl looked up at him and backed away, a clear indication that she was afraid of him. The realization made Drift pause and frown. Suddenly, he remembered that she was human, just like Cemetery Wind… and she had seen everything that day. She witnessed his violent actions towards her own species, whether they were hostile or not.

And now, she was aware that he could do the same exact thing to her.

The samurai shook his head, optics dimmed, "Aiko, I _had_ to…"

"I know." She turned away, "I'm fine. You need to help Mirage."

The red Autobot, who watched, called after her as she began to walk away, "Aiko-"

"No." she said, whirling around, "I just… need to be alone. Is that too fucking hard to ask for?"

Neither Autobot said anything, so she turned back around and disappeared behind an old shelf. Drift had the urge to go after her, to assure her that he had no reason to harm her like he did them. It was evident that she didn't like showing fear, so she seemed to replace that with anger instead. But there were more pressing matters to attend to. Drift vented and returned his attention to Mirage, who was pressing down on the injury to reduce the flow of Energon from his systems.

They exchanged a glance. A long, apprehensive and miserable glance. They both new the effect of Mirage's situation, yet neither of them wanted to address it. They had no medic, no medical expertise, and no knowledge of any medical care within reach. There was only one way this could possibly go.

Finally, Mirage was the one to confront it. "Drift…I cannot… I will not…I am not…"

 _I am not going to survive._

"Easy, easy." Drift held the smaller Autobot down as he shifted. Teal optics lowered to the concerning pool of Energon at his side. He then inspected the injury, scooting forward despite the throb of his hip joint. Shot from behind, the plating was blown outward in the front. Drift immediately began to calculate. A missile definitely, but much bigger than any mortar Cemetery Wind had. The attack was quiet. Not something the force was very good at. They ambushed. They did not sneak attacks.

It was not _human_.

And the aim… so precise. Four years of monitoring human behavior, Drift knew that they were clumsy things. They shot and hoped they hit. They don't care for weak points, they just go in. This… this was careful. Whoever shot it knew the weak points, knew exactly where to hit a Transformer to get him down on the ground. A disturbing thought crept into Drift's processors and it made his tank churn.

A _Cybertronian_ shot Mirage.

But he didn't need to know that. He was in enough distress as is. The pain in Drift's joint was becoming too great and he decided to use a katana as leverage. He dug the tip of the blade into the floor and leaned on the hilt for support, "I need to find Ratchet."

Mirage looked up from his wound, cerulean optics barely lit, "Ratchet's fate is… unknown. Could be dead."

"Could be alive." Drift said firmly, "If I can just get a message through to him or-"

Mirage gripped the hilt of Drift's katana, halting his words instantly. The samurai looked from the smaller Autobot's hand to him, confused. Mirage tugged on the hilt weakly, his strength draining by the minute. "I will be… burden… no point in… Ratchet…"

"You are _not_ a burden-" Drift's voice raised, but Mirage kept going.

"The pain… no more pain… no more fear…" Mirage's fingers left the hilt and trailed down the blade, as if it were the most sacred thing he'd ever seen. "Primus… he calls for me…"

"Mirage-"

"Drift…" Mirage placed his hand over the blade, "I would rather… be at your mercy… than theirs…"

"No!" the word flew out of Drift's vocalizer and shook his head, a pure look of devastation upon his face plating, "Mirage, I am not… _executing_ you."

"You must…"

"I refuse!"

Drift jerked away, head shaking frantically. Mirage's palm slipped from the blade and he gave Drift a desolate look. Drift resisted, yet deep down he knew. Mirage was already gone. He was suffering and it was entirely appropriate to end it. One side of him told him to hold on, that Ratchet was near, that there was a way to save Mirage.

The other half that lurked underneath told him to suck it up and do it. Told him to stop being weak and get rid of the burden. Told him that it would not be the first time an Autobot's Spark extinguished at his hands.

That side was promptly told to _shut the frag up._

"So many Autobots have fallen before me," Drift said, "I will not let there be another..."

And yet, the look shared between them said otherwise. Mirage was in pain, his death excruciatingly prolonged. A death he did not deserve. He deserved to die a warrior, to die fighting for what he believed in. Not like this. The red Autobot gripped Drift's free arm, his grip weak, fingers quivering. "Please…"

Fingers wrapped around the hilt of the katana, Drift's hard grip being the only thing hiding the trembling of his own hands. For a long time they sat there, suffering in their mental and physical states. The samurai shifted, the once sharp pain in his hip now just a dull ache. He was hurting more on the inside than anything. He vowed never to do this again. He promised the Autobots. He promised Optimus Prime. He promised himself.

The blade's tip rested on the center of Mirage's chest. Venting of both parties became erratic. The katana shook along with its owner's unstable grip. Drift leaned over the smaller Autobot. Cerulean optics met his own, and unlike the countless Autobots who had been beneath him in the past, Mirage was unafraid of death. Unafraid of Drift. The samurai forced himself to turn away from the foreign sight. If he looked, he wouldn't do it.

 _Primus help us all…_

* * *

Thin strips of smoke escaped Aiko's lips. She leaned against the building, outside, letting the cool air of dusk chill her skin. In her hand, a cigarette pack that miraculously remained in her pocket. Below her, a radio that was in working condition. This power plant site must not have been abandoned for very long. Everything still looked relatively good in terms of condition, including this small radio that she had been toying with.

The girl removed the cigarette, blowing out the smoke. The site was quiet, save for the shift of metal inside, but she ignored it. They weren't following her like dogs at the moment and that was all that mattered. Suddenly, she was presented with an escape. Escape from all the crazy shit she'd voluntarily got herself into. Climbing into Drift was now the worst mistake she ever made.

And now, he was a mistake that she would never be able to reverse.

Should she leave now? Considering what she seen, it was a little tempting. They would never know. And when they did, it would be too late. But then there would be no more stories of their magnificent race. No more protection from Cemetery Wind should they find her. No one to help Drift and keep him company as he watches his comrade die.

She shouldn't be holding his attack against him and she knew it. He was angry and scared and had every right to fight back. They deserved to die for slaughtering the Autobots, the ones who supported mankind. She knew she was angry at Drift because she was _scared_ of him. A Transformer who seemed so timid and kind suddenly switched to a savage beast in a single second. He may have had a right to kill, but she had a right to be afraid.

Large footsteps in the distance made her freeze. Light footsteps, barely audible yet with an uneven gate. Drift.

Sure enough, a thirty foot form appeared in the corner of her eye, appearing from around the corner of the building. She could physically feel the burn of teal optics on her, and in poor attempt to suppress a shiver, she popped the cigarette in her mouth and inhaled. Trying to pretend she did not notice him, even though it was impossible to not notice a Transformer beside you.

Drift came towards her, and the heavy limp that somehow did not affect his light steps did not go unnoticed. How he was able to walk at all with that dislocated hip, she had no clue. Transformers are some tough bastards, that was for sure. She would be lying if she said she wasn't legitimately impressed with Drift's endurance.

"I'm sorry-"

"I apologize-"

The unison startled them both. Aiko withdrew her cigarette and finally made eye contact. Drift hesitated, as if unsure if who should go first, and slowly descended to the ground. Using a katana as a heavy support, he managed to kneel on his bad leg, doing his hardest not to cringe. Once he was situated as comfortably as he possibly could, Aiko cleared her throat. "I'm sorry… I'm not mad. You had a right to attack and I shouldn't be holding it against you."

"You should not have had to see it…" Drift said quietly, his voice sounding heavier than usual. "I apologize for frightening you. I wish to tell you that I will never harm you, for you have never in our time put harm upon me."

"I know you wouldn't, Drift." Aiko replied, looking away. She knelt down and turned the volume of the radio up a little. Drift gave it a long look, but seemed to decide against saying anything about it. The girl watched as he struggled to get back up. Once he stabilized himself, she asked carefully, "Is Mirage okay?"

Drift tensed. His face fell, and it took a long time for him to finally answer. "Asleep."

"Oh," she said, and nodded slowly as she leaned back against the building. She expected him to leave, but was surprised when Drift leaned back as well. Aiko looked up as she took out her cigarette. His bad leg was propped up, his arms were crossed, and his head was up with a deep frown. Like he was trying to forget everything and slip into some sort of oblivion.

She couldn't blame him, because she was too.

Drift opened one optic sometime later, watching her shift her position and stare at some distant point only she could see. He let out an uneven vent and closed his optic, listening to the Earth music and succumbing to a trance as he took in every lyric…

 _No one will ever see, this side reflected…_

 _And if there's something wrong, who would have guessed it?_

 _And I have left alone, everything that I own…_

 _To make you feel like…_

 _It's not too late…_

 _It's never too late…_

 _Even if I say, "It will be all right…"_

 _Still I hear you say…_

 _You want to end your life…_

 _Now and again we try to just stay alive…_

 _Maybe we'll turn it around…_

 _'Cause it's not too late…_

 _It's never too late…_

* * *

 **"Asleep" has multiple meanings. It's up to you guys to determine which one Drift meant until I update again. ;)**

 **The song is Never Too Late by Three Days Grace, which I do not own in any way, shape, or form. Feel free to release all the angst feelings down below!**


	11. Fallen Warrior

**Oh goodness guys, I'm just all over the place and I'm so sorry. I was planning on updating last week, but English decided to slap a research essay in my face. Gotta love when that happens. SO, to reward you guys with your patience, here's an EXTRA long chapter for you guys to hat- I mean enjoy. Hehe...**

 **ALSO, I seem to have confused some people by considering Drift to be 30 feet tall. I know people argue that Drift and Crosshairs are around Bumblebee's height, but I personally CANNOT envision them being only 23-26 feet. They just look much taller to me. There's also the argument that Drift's car form is the smallest of the three and that makes him no bigger than Bumblebee but honestly, if there's no confirmed heights for the new Autobots, I'm just gonna go with what I feel is right. It's not like Michael Bay's movies made sense before because they definitely haven't. I used the very last scene in the movie with all the Autobots together for reference, so real quick here's the headcannon heights I have made up:**

 **Optimus Prime- 35 ft (10.7 meters)**

 **Crosshairs- 32 ft (9.7 meters)**

 **Hound- 31 feet (9.4 meters)**

 **Drift- 30 ft (9.1 meters)**

 **Bumblebee- 25 ft (7.6 meters)**

 **These are the heights _I_ decided to use, meaning that they're NOT confirmed heights. There's just so much controversy and contradictions on their heights that I just made up my own scale. I hope you guys are okay with it. I know Bee was like, 17 feet in the first movie but I believe he's grown since then, not just from age but because he's switched his look so many times that he's probably gotten more complex and larger over the years.**

 ** _WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER_ : Official character death, excessively detailed violence, excessive swearing (but for good reason), and (NOT official) indications of past drug use.**

 **That's right, you guys knew it was coming. Prepare your fragile hearts.**

 **I OWN NOTHING BUT AIKO AND MY HEADCANNONS!**

* * *

"Twenty-one." Savoy growled, "He killed _twenty-one_ of my men."

The man crossed his arms, throwing a disapproving look over at the black sports car lurking in the darkness. Its engine thrummed idly, not another sound uttered. With an agitated huff, Savoy turned away from the black Lamborghini and strode over to his three surviving men. The soldiers acknowledged him and he asked through gritted teeth, "How long until we get reinforcements?"

"Two days, sir." A soldier answered, a phone to his ear as he contacted their forces.

Just great.

The rev of a powerful engine grabbed his attention, and he turned around to see the Lamborghini roll closer, stalking like the predator that it was. It stopped a few feet from Savoy and sat there, as if it were waiting for him to speak his mind. So he did.

"I don't understand." Savoy said lowly, though there was legitimate disbelief in his tone, "They keep getting away. We don't normally have this much trouble taking them down. Even when there are two. Those twins went down easy, but these two…"

 _"They are smarter. Stronger."_ A daunting British voice said from the radio of the black car, _"One in particular… he is a bit of a challenge. Just as I remember him to be…"_

"The bigger one?"

 _"The samurai. He has always been rather… strenuous to track. He is perhaps the most difficult target we have. And he is unpredictable, dangerously so."_

Savoy frowned, "So I have seen. Even without the help of his little red companion, he is quite the force to be reckoned with. He's the first one to fight back. Not sure how we're going to get around that. Usually the Decepticons are the ones we need to be careful about."

The Lamborghini hummed darkly, _"He has always been one to fight back. I have, however, injured the second target."_

"We've still got the samurai to worry about." Savoy retorted.

 _"We can handle him,"_ the black car said, and Savoy could almost see the cruel smile on the asset's face, _"I have just managed to access the Autobot frequency for us to use at our disposal, and if all goes well, you will lure him by the illusion of a false comrade's call as I finish my uncompleted assignment."_

* * *

"I can't, Drift. I don't know how any of this works."

Aiko sighed and sat back down on the palm of Drift's hand, which hovered over Mirage's midsection so she could get a clear view of the wound. The samurai frowned deeply, optics dimming as he watched her inspect the injury of the unconscious Autobot. "You repaired me."

"You didn't have a hole in your abdomen." She retorted, clutching his index finger as she leaned a little more, "It would be much easier if he could be in his car form, but not like this. I fix cars, not aliens, remember?"

"Yes," Drift murmured. The teenager patted his finger, "Except maybe… can you put me down on his stomach?"

The statement sounded rather odd, but Aiko hardly even cared. Drift had moved Mirage over to a different wall and laid him onto his back, so that he wasn't lying in a pool of his own blood, so to speak. The smaller Autobot was out cold for a while now, but definitely not dead since she could still hear his internal systems working in a frenzied pace. Drift informed her that his self-repair protocols were working hard to slowly but surely repair his damaged protoform.

But they weren't being fast enough.

Drift delicately tilted his hand over Mirage's midsection, allowing Aiko to slide off. She steadied herself over the smooth red armor before standing up. Footing on a Transformer was a little difficult to maintain, resulting in her crouching most of the time. The girl crawled her way closer to the wound, halting on a piece of armor over Mirage's pelvic span. Standing back up, she leaned over and gazed further up at his abdomen, noting the stains of neon blue all over the wound.

"What is that stuff? Is it Transformer blood or something? Neither of you really elaborated on it." Aiko asked, pointed to the thick liquid still leaking down Mirage's side. Not nearly as much as earlier, curtesy of his self-repair.

"In a way, yes. It is called Energon," Drift answered, shifting slightly in his kneeled position, gripping his katana as his new support. "Energon is our life-source. It runs through our lines just as human blood runs through your veins. It is not toxic to you, so long as it is not ingested."

Aiko hummed in understanding, her eyes catching onto what looked to be some complex cylindrical part once hidden beneath red armor in Mirage's abdomen. It had clearly been blown up from the missile going right through. Drift happened to see it to as he looked over and sighed deeply, "T-cog has been destroyed…"

"A what-cog?" the girl switched her attention to Drift.

"T-cog, or his transformation-cog. It is a vital part that allows us to scan and transform into alternate modes. Without it, we are rendered vulnerable with no means of quick transportation or escape," Drift explained, teal optics dimming, "and it would seem that whoever targeted Mirage knew this."

Aiko took note of the information and nodded, "Got it. I won't be able to fix his protoform or his T-cog or any of those parts, but I can mend these busted cables back together. That would stop the bleeding, at least. It's not much, but it's a start."

Drift simply nodded, holding out his hand again to allow her to reach the ground. For a moment, Aiko thought about how far they'd come for him to be comfortable with touching and holding her. She stepped from his palm and brushed herself off. Her eyes roamed over the building's many shelves. If she were lucky, there'd be some tools that can be used to mend those lines together. She glanced up at Mirage with a frown, "He's been out for a while."

"I put him in a stasis." Drift answered, heaving himself up. "He needed it."

"He needed it, huh?"

Drift seemed to consider his answer for a moment before he spoke, "He was talking nonsense."

The teenager furrowed her eyebrows, "So you _knock him out?_ "

The samurai merely shrugged at her, a careless action that was rather uncharacteristic of him. His free hand subconsciously gripped the misplaced joint of his hip. He was, unfortunately, stuck with the injury. Self-repair could deal with physical injuries and damaged internal workings, but it did not particularly fix broken or dislocated joints. Drift insisted that the pain had numbed down to a mild ache, but it still took away his ability to transform and therefore their means of escape if need be.

Sighing, she dismissed herself and wandered to the shelves to look for tools, leaving Drift frowning down at Mirage's unconscious frame.

* * *

Aiko tried her hardest, but her expertise fell short of what Mirage required. She was able to patch his lines to prevent him from losing any more Energon, but she wasn't one of them- she had no clue of how their parts functioned and how to properly fix them. All they could do is wait for Mirage's self-repair to do the rest and regenerate Energon, a process Drift said was by no means a quick one.

Mirage was on and off throughout the following days. Aiko had noticed that he and Drift rarely ever talked or communicated anymore. Why exactly, she wasn't sure, but she caught the occasional optic contact they'd make before one of them would turn away. By some miracle, he'd regained enough strength to be able to get up and stand, but heavily relied on Drift in terms of walking. The samurai would help guide him around the building, just to keep the smaller Autobot's joints from locking up from lack of movement.

At the moment, the girl was leaning against a shelf, discarding her finished cigarette as she monitored Mirage slip into recharge, as they called it. After a while she silently slipped away to the main entrance of the building, slipping through the crack of the double doors. Drift was nowhere to be seen, but she knew he was somewhere in the site. She'd caught him sneaking out often, either to explore the site or get some time to himself. Normally she let him go since Drift always came back after a few hours, but it was close to midnight and he still had not returned.

The cool night air greeted her as she walked out, the full moon illuminating the site. Aiko drew in a deep breath and looked around, trying to find any hint of teal orbs glowing or movement. Then, there was a shift of metal that grabbed her attention, the only thing being that it came from _above_. Confused, she gazed up and saw nothing but stars in the sky when the noise happened again. It took her a moment to realize… Drift was on the _roof_.

Just how did he get up there so quietly? She would have expected some sort of loud sound of impact from a Transformer up on the roof. Either she was deaf as hell or Drift was living up to his samurai theme. Sneaky thing.

After a quick scan, she spotted a ladder leading up the side of the building and she hastily grabbed on. Once she had scaled the ladder, she peeked over the edge to find the familiar form of Drift. He was sitting against a nonworking smokestack on the roof, his katana strewn out across his lap. His optics were closed, yet he never once opened them as he murmured aloud, "I do not recommend hanging on that ladder. It is unstable."

Aiko blinked a few times, climbing up and onto the roof. As she walked closer, Drift opened his optics and craned his neck to look at her briefly before staring off into the distance. She tried following his gaze, but all she could see was a multitude of trees that made up the woods behind the property. Instead, she diverted her attention back to him, coming forward and patting a piece of blue leg armor, "What are you staring at?"

"A city." He answered quietly.

"A city?" Aiko raised an eyebrow and turned back around to look, "Where do you see a city?"

"Above the woods, I see a city in the distance." He said simply, tilting his head slightly as if he were studying the city he was apparently seeing. The girl hummed in reply, suddenly remembering that he was much taller and had the capabilities to see things miles and miles away. Drift seemed to notice her expression and he asked softly, "Would you like to see?"

She stared dumbly for a moment, as though he'd asked her a complex riddle rather than a simple question. When she didn't respond right away, Drift simply lowered a hand down before her in an open offering. The girl paused momentarily, wondering how exactly he was going to show her. When she went to step into his palm, Drift suddenly moved his hand, maneuvering it behind her until he was cupping her backside. "Do you trust me?"

"I- what?" Aiko stammered, unsure of what to make of a metallic palm against her back. What was he doing? She looked back up at him, re-asking the question in her mind. Did she trust Drift? Well, he trusted her for sure or else he wouldn't be touching her, let alone be this close to her. She gave it a few seconds of thought before answering, "Yeah, I trust you."

With that, Drift's hand slid beneath her, bending her legs so that she fell back into his hand. A yelp escaped her and she braced herself against the warm metal as Drift promptly picked her up and lifted her delicately. There was an amused glint to his teal optics as he looked at her, and then raised his palm up to his opposing shoulder. Realizing his intentions, Aiko clambered out of his gentle palm and latched onto the collar of his armor, stabilizing herself.

"Are you well?" Drift asked, giving her a sidelong look, face plating gleaming in the moonlight. It took her a minute to nod in reply, stunned by those piercing blue orbs now that they were so close. There was the tiniest hint of a smile quirking his lip plating before it faded and he looked onward. Following him, she was surprised to see bright lights and skyscrapers in the distance. It was a unique sight and Aiko tilted her head as she examined it, "Oh… that's San Diego."

Drift hummed in reply. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, content in each other's company. Aiko let her mind wander while Drift looked as if he were resting; his golden face plating set in a peaceful expression with his optics off. However weird it was, she found herself lost within the sincere serenity he seemed to give off. Despite all that was happening he was always… calm. Held together. Controlled.

At least, when Cemetery Wind wasn't involved.

"Drift?"

"Hmm?"

"Where you guys were from… what was it like? Cybertron?"

Upon hearing Aiko's question, his helm turned, neck cables craning so that he could see her. Drift opened his teal optics, vibrant and intense as they always were. For a moment he just stared, no emotion visible, making her squirm under that piercing gaze. Then he gave a low hum as he leaned back, raising his helm to face the stars, as though he were searching for something up there, and Aiko followed. When he spoke, it was but a mere whisper, "I want to show you something…"

Drift lifted an arm and pointed to the distant city, "Look above the city. Directly north is the brightest star in the sky. There, you see?"

Aiko took a moment to sit down, now comfortable on his shoulder. She followed Drift's pointing finger as he lifted it upwards, until she locked onto the aforementioned star. It shone brightly, more so than the others and she wondered what significance it had for Drift to point it out. "I see it."

"That was the star that Cybertron once orbited. We never titled the star but… your race calls it Polaris." He said, a longing and sad tone lacing his voice. A look of surprise and awe took her over, yet in the inside her heart twisted upon realizing that he probably left so often to get up here and stare at what was left for him to connect to his home planet.

"What was it like on Cybertron back then?" she asked, legitimately curious.

Drift paused for a moment, considering his answer. The samurai shifted slightly against the smokestack as if he were uncomfortable. A minute passed, and he finally spoke, "In the very beginning, before I was even created, it was once a brilliant world. There were no factions, no fighting… no _war_. Just _us_. A single sentient species, living together in harmony. As one."

"Wish our planet was like that," she murmured, "less shit to worry about if everyone could just get along, y'know?"

"I suppose…" Drift sighed, leaning his head back. Aiko's eyes locked onto the thick cables of his neck, and then leaned closer. They looked… rugged. The rubber surface that protected the lines was rough and little bumps marred them. It looked as if the cables had been pricked and punctured, the rubber bunching up and forming lumps over time. Aiko wasn't the least bit knowledgeable of Cybertronian anatomy, but _that_ did not look normal.

Disturbingly, the nicks in Drift's neck cables resembled the needle scars of drug addicts she had seen in the streets…

Which was a ridiculous comparison. Aiko shoved the rising thought away and came to a conclusion that it was probably old injuries on his neck that healed. She knew that their races had very similar cultures and social classes, but she doubted their similarities ran _that_ deep. Drift was a massive mechanical alien. It wasn't like they had any massive mechanical drugs. Right…?

"What happened to your neck?"

Drift's deep blue armor clenched together and he visibly tensed. He brought a hand up and touched the scarred cables with a slight grimace. Large but deft fingers rubbed delicately over one thick neck cable, as if it still _hurt_ in some way, despite the absence of any physical pain. "…A bad choice I made in the past…"

"You _chose_ to do that to yourself?" Aiko asked, bewildered.

"Unfortunately," the samurai said quietly, optics dimmed and distant like he was remembering the very reason the scars were there. "I was young and rash, oblivious of my actions. There are many choices I made that I regret to this day…"

"Like what?"

Drift glanced at her for a moment before turning away, and in the mere second of optic-to-eye contact, there was a glimpse of pain – _emotional pain_ \- in those teal orbs. "…Some things are best left unsaid, Aiko."

Drift's way of saying, _"That's as far as you're gonna get with me."_

Well _that_ answer didn't help any. All this time they've been together and it just now came to her that she really knew nothing about Drift. Mirage had told her about himself at least, but Drift seemed to dance around explaining himself, replacing his own story with those of Cybertron and the cultures of his race. Not that all of those stories weren't interesting, but now she was even more curious about what Drift was keeping in the dark since there was clearly more to him than what he was letting on. She was more curious about _who_ he was.

Clearly, the whole Cemetery Wind fiasco wasn't the only thing bothering him. The scars on his lines were definitely from something in the past, something of a distant memory that he painfully remembers, but again Drift was nothing more than a big mystery.

She'll get it out of him eventually, but for now, she let him get away with staying silent.

"I'm sorry-"

"Shh!" Drift cut her off abruptly. The girl threw him a confused look, noticing the samurai's frozen expression as he stared ahead. Minutes passed, and then Drift shot forward and he sat up straight so fast that if Aiko hadn't grabbed onto his collar armor in time, she probably would have tumbled backwards down his back. "What the hell, Drift?!"

"Hush!" he snapped right back, optics trained past the site. "I hear something."

Drift slid a hand up under his kabuto helm and pressed his temple, releasing a burst of static from within his systems of what she assumed to be his open communications link. After a long pause, Drift clenched his dentals, seemingly frustrated, "Hello? Hello! Can you hear- hello?"

Aiko stared at him, "What is it?"

The samurai removed his hand, expression turning from one of concentration to one of complete surprise, "Someone is… someone is trying to _contact_ me."

"What?" Aiko stood up on Drift's shoulder, leaning over his collar armor, "Are you serious? Do you know who it is?"

"No," he replied, finally turning back to her and raising a hand to her, "But they are close. I must go and find them. I want you to retreat inside the building and stay with Mirage."

Aiko stepped into his palm, letting the fingers curl around to secure her as she jabbed a finger at his face, "You better be careful out there. You're still hurt."

"Of course." He said, "I promise to be cautious."

Drift took her carefully from his shoulder and put her down. Once she was placed safely onto the roof, he almost sprang up onto his feet and he looked down at her one last time before he snuck off, his limp not affecting his stealthy and quiet movements in the slightest. The girl took off towards the latter and slid down it to the ground, half-hearing the samurai's soft steps up above. She hurried towards the building entrance and slipped in, peeking through just in time to see Drift disappear out of the site and into the woods.

She was not sure why, but something about another Autobot trying to contact Drift did not sit well with her. It felt too convenient, too coincidental. They were struggling, injured with no proper medical attention or communication with other Autobots. And then bam, someone just calls for Drift. It didn't seem right. But hey, nothing seemed right anymore, so who was she to judge?

Exhaling, Aiko opened her eyes, not realizing they had been closed. She turned around, looking at Mirage's unmoving form at the far end of the building. She hoped this Autobot was someone who could help him. He was in so much pain…

Well, now that she thought about it, Drift was too.

The teenager slid down against the steel door until she was sitting and closed her eyes once again, leaning her head back. She let her mind wander, awaiting Drift's return, hopefully with an Autobot who could help them both with their injuries.

A minute passed. Five. Ten. Fifteen.

Then, in the distance, the powerful revs of an engine.

Aiko opened her eyes, a sense of relief washing over her. The girl stood up and leaned against the door, expecting Drift to drive closer and transform on the other side. Expected the sounds on a second engine following the first. Expected a miracle to happen. Minutes passed and nothing happened. She assumed Drift was communicating with his comrade. Perhaps he was telling them the situation, about her and that she was not a threat, or perhaps they know each other and were taking their time coming back.

Instead, she heard the one engine rev a little more, and then it disappeared.

She paused, her mind reeling of what could have happened. Deciding to discard Drift's command just this once, the girl peered through the partially opened doors and saw nothing but the property. Not a car in sight, as if there was never one there in the first place. Which was odd, because the engine she had heard would mean there was a car right in front of the door…

Something wasn't right.

Aiko took a deep breath and slipped outside, suppressing a shiver from the cool night air. She walked around the building and took a sweep over the wide space, littered with old trailers and barrels. Within a few feet from the side of the building, there was a fresh set of tire tracks in the gravel. Only one set. Aiko frowned and knelt to examine them. It wasn't Drift, because he couldn't transform with his dislocated joint. Mirage was out of the question. Which could only mean…

Aiko felt her breath hitch in her throat. Someone else was there.

A dark figure moved from behind a trailer and disappeared around the corner to the front of the building. It happened so fast in the corner of her eye that she wondered if she had imagined it out of paranoia. She froze for a long moment, until she heard it. The low hum of an engine. So the teenager snuck to the wall and looked around.

There, slowly rolling into the building, was a pitch black Lamborghini.

Moments later, Mirage's panicked voice rang from inside, "No… get away! Who are you? What do you want?"

 _"Now, now. No need to get worked up, little Autobot."_

That voice; it was taunting, scarily so. Aiko felt her stomach drop as she ran to the entrance and grasped at the door with shaky hands to peer around. There, in front of Mirage's scrambling frame, was the black Lamborghini sitting in the center. It was like a predator, sitting, waiting for a time to strike. Its black paint glistened under the lights in the building, otherwise it probably would have been invisible.

Aiko felt her heart skip a few beats.

But how did it get in there so _quietly_? Not to mention without being detected by Drift. He could sense Mirage a long ways away! So why couldn't he sense this guy? Didn't they have advanced senses that allowed them to detect one another? Unless…

 _This is Cemetery Wind's doing… and they lured Drift away with a fake Autobot call…_

"Shit…"

The black sports car revved its engine, and she could see Mirage pressing himself firmly against the wall, his lack of proper medical attention putting him in a weakened state. Then, the Lamborghini transformed, rising into a large black robot. He was possibly a foot or so smaller than Drift, but still enormous in comparison to Mirage. His entire appearance was intimidating; his stance, his confident steps… they were frightening. He closed in on Mirage, pulling out a thick complex blade from his hip plating. "Tsk tsk tsk, look at you. All battered up. Such a shame your medic wasn't around to save you."

" _You_ … impossible!" Mirage exclaimed, "Drift! Where is he? W-what have you…?"

"Oh, don't worry. He will be taken care of shortly, for my reinforcements have him in their targets. Although, that samurai _is_ a little more… lively. He's a quick one, always managing to get away. I will have to make this quick." He said with a low laugh. The black Transformer bent down over the red Autobot, flipping the hilt of his blade in his servo impatiently and pressing a large foot to Mirage's heaving chest armor. "I will ask you one question, Autobot, and I may spare your life."

Mirage glared up at him.

"Where is Optimus Prime?"

In a rush of memory, Aiko realized with a jolt that Cemetery Wind has also wanted an answer to that question from Drift and Mirage. This Transformer was clearly an enemy, but if he were to ask the same question…

"You did this to me." Mirage put the pieces together, "You are _helping_ the humans!"

"Why not?" the black Transformer sneered, pressing the tip of his blade into Mirage's open wound, savoring the whine of pain that came after, "I was never one to turn down an offer. These humans make rather good clients, if I do say so myself."

"What could they possibly have to give to you?" Mirage forced out through the haze of pain. Energon flowed out from the severed lines, slowly pooling below. "Have you become so low and desperate that you rely on the aid of a weaker race to get what you want?"

A ferocious roar rattled the entire building. The Transformer reached down with his free servo and latched it around Mirage's neck, hauling him up and slamming him against the wall at a more optic-level height. Mirage coughed and hacked Energon, weak fingers attempting to pull on the ones squeezing his neck cables and cutting off his Energon flow. His vents opened and roared to compensate for his erratic venting. The Autobot writhed and struggled, kicking legs hardly doing a thing to the larger Transformer. Eventually he stopped, servos still reaching for his throat as he was forced to stare into merciless poison green optics.

"I will ask one more time." he said with an ugly snarl, optics lightened as though he were thoroughly enjoying Mirage's suffering, "Where can I find the Prime?"

"He will find you…" Mirage choked out, "…and he will _destroy_ you."

"Very well," the black Transformer's nasal plates flared and he put away his blade. Instead, his arm morphed into something that looked suspiciously like an extracting device and pressed it to the middle of Mirage's chest armor. "Give me your Spark, little Autobot-"

"HEY! ASSHOLE!"

A wrench was launched from a random direction, hitting the disgruntled Transformer square in the side of his face. The wrench didn't hurt him in any way –if anything it was like getting hit by a mere pebble- but it was enough to catch his attention. Green optics narrowed to slits as he snapped his helm down to see a human girl glaring back up at him, another wrench in her grasp.

"What's this?" he glanced between Mirage and Aiko before returning his seething optics down at her, "What is a little nuisance like you doing here?"

"I'm here to tell you to leave him the hell alone, you _ignorant_ _fuck!"_

The black Transformer instantly dropped Mirage, who groaned as he slumped onto the ground. The big black menace pulled his knife back out, growling horrendously. "Nobody dares to insult me! I think I'll kill you first, little _organic filth!"_

"You'll have to catch me first, motherfucker!" Aiko hollered, launching her wrench at him and sprinting out of the building. She could vaguely hear the enraged alien transform, followed by the powerful rev of his chosen alt mode. The Lamborghini came bursting through the double doors, knocking one out, as he barreled after her. Aiko felt a chill run down her spine. She was used to running from human police, not alien psychopaths.

Psychopaths… _Deadlock_. Was this who Mirage had been warning her about? Did she just piss of one of the most dangerous Decepticons ever created? Could she be running from the very savage Decepticon who had killed hundreds of Autobots?

 _Shit… maybe this wasn't the best idea._

The teenager ran through the site, diving behind one of the trailers and watching the Lamborghini fly by. Once he was gone, she turned a different way, brown eyes scanning through the darkness for Drift. He _had_ to be on his way back by now. Suddenly, she heard an engine roar and the Lamborghini screeched to a halt on the other side of the trailer she was hiding behind. Her eyes flickered down, a shaky breath escaping quivering lips as she kept her eyes trained on what she could see of the tires from underneath the trailer.

Static cackled from the other side, and then that British voice cooed, " _Come out, little human."_

The second she saw those tires move, she headed for the next trailer over, applying the lightest amount of weight on her tip toes as she could. She hurried down the long side of the trailer and swerved around the side just when the black car came cruising behind her almost leisurely, as if this were some twisted stroll for him. His engine hummed idly as he drove around, and for some reason that was more intimidating than when it was roaring.

That was the worst part. Every second he was calm, talking through his radio in a conversational manner like he wasn't even trying.

 _"Drift…"_ She mouthed, not daring to utter a sound. _Where the hell are you, Drift…_

 _"Show yourself now girl, and I shall end you quickly."_ he said, once again on the other side of a trailer. _"I am on a tight schedule, you see. Don't make me have to find you… I'd hate to have to take the time to tear you limb by limb. So_ excruciatingly _time consuming, wouldn't you agree?"_

Aiko bit her bottom lip, pressing herself firmly to the rusted trailer while feeling around with her hands until she found a door handle. Trembling fingers curled around the handle and she waited.

 _"Where are you, little one?"_

The black car's engine gave a little rev, and she could hear tires crumbling over gravel as he moved. Her heart was nearly in her throat; she had been driven to the last trailer; all the others were behind that Transformer. He was between her and any more possible cover. Then, in the corner of her eye, a sleek black hood peeked from beside the trailer, halting abruptly so only the front end poked out. Aiko froze, blood running cold and she stared forward; as if even an eye movement would give her away.

She waited for one minute. Two. Three.

Then, he reversed and rolled off in the opposite direction. Towards the other trailers.

She waited a little longer before tugging at the handle she hadn't realized she had a death grip on. Turning so that she was facing it, she wrenched her trembling hands and slid the door aside. The rusty rails gave a low groan, making the hair on her skin stand on end. She threw herself in, turned around and slid it so that there was a tiny crack for her to see through.

It may have been a few minutes. It may have been a few hours. Time seemed to stop when she could no longer hear the Lamborghini's monologue. The site was silent again, and she sighed. Aiko scooted back and rested against the wall of the old trailer, hugging herself to help disperse her shock. She shifted in discomfort, like she had sat on something. Reaching behind her, Aiko grasped an object and pulled it out from underneath her. The girl's eyes widened, staring at the forgotten pistol on her hand that she had kept in her back pocket. Loaded, but the safety switch was on.

She shook it and heard a small amount of bullets rattle inside.

 _Clank. Clank. Clank._

Metal clanged over the gravel in an even tread of footsteps. A dark form strode past the tiny door gap she created and strode around the trailer until the footsteps stopped. Aiko tensed, head turning to the side as she struggled to listen. Nothing. Dead silence.

She waited.

And waited.

 **CLAAANG!**

A massive hook punctured through the metal top as if it were fabric. The horrid weapon twisted and began to cut in a horizontal line, creating an awful screeching noise as metal grinded against metal. Aiko screamed, scrambling to one end of the trailer as it was sliced in half. The pistol fell from her grasp and slid to the opposite end of the trailer. Before she could run and get it, a massive hand pried the trailer apart, tossing the empty half aside and lifting the part she was in. The girl slid back as it was positioned upright, slamming into the back and grunting when she hit her back.

Poison green optics looked down at her, a cruel smirk curving his black plating, " _There_ you are."

She kept screaming, cornering herself when he shoved his knife down, the tip piercing through the rusted metal, just barely missing her. He pulled back, knife raised above his helm, and prepared to strike again. Then in a miracle moment, sparks flew as a second form appeared and slammed into the black Transformer. A small, red form.

The teenager yelped and fell over just as the trailer had, and looked up just in time to see two massive figures fall to the ground in a loud clang muffled by the gravel. They writhed and wrestled, a familiar pair of cerulean orbs burning back at poison green ones. Gravel flew everywhere as they tumbled, the black Transformer grunting as he slammed the back of Mirage's helm into the ground.

"You have escaped me far too much!" he roared, shoving his transforming arm into Mirage's chest armor just as he had done before. The red armor crunched underneath from the pressure, and the small Autobot _howled_ and gripped the complex arm in desperate attempt to pull it out. But his strength was all but gone, unable to stop the pain as the black frame above him continued to pry his internals open. The black Transformer leaned close and grinned, "Game over, little Autobot."

With a savage yank, Mirage's vocalizer glitched from a loud and _bloodcurdling_ wail that echoed into the night. Then, his frame went deathly still as a globe of bright blue light was ripped from his chest. Wires that once connected the object to the internals ripped and snapped as the black Transformer tore it out, leaving Mirage with a gaping hole in the center of his chest, Energon spurting and sparks flying from the severed lines.

Aiko's legs collapsed from beneath her, falling to her knees with a look of pure devastation. Her heart pounded faster than ever and her blood ran cold. She almost had the urge to faint then and there, watching in horror as Mirage's dead form was shoved aside, leaving her to stare at the monstrosity that had ripped the Autobot's very soul out of him. Right arm transformed into that extracting device, it held the glowing object, stained with Mirage's Energon. Green optics seared into her, and a wave of panic took her over when the black Transformer got up from his knelt position and began to pursue her.

So she did the first thing that came to mind. She scrambled back and she _screamed_.

"DRIFT!" She screeched at the top of her lungs, so loudly and shrilly that her voice physically hurt, "DRIFT, HELP ME!"

Just like that, like he had been summoned, a massive katana flew from behind her and would have struck the enemy if he hadn't swerved out of the way in time. The weapon sliced through the air, landing a few feet behind the black Transformer with the blade dug deep into the gravel ground. Uneven footsteps pounded the ground, and a moment later a familiar deep blue form flew past Aiko with a cry of anger. Drift charged the other Cybertronian and they collided, falling to the ground wresting and clawing and biting as though they were a pair of mechanical animals.

A square kick to his abdomen had Drift shoved backwards. Aiko sprinted back into one half of the trailer, just barely dodging the samurai as he landed on his side right where she sat seconds ago. The Autobot let out a silent gasp as he landed on his bad leg, but instead of the pain he was expecting, all he felt was a large _POP_ , and suddenly his hip joint no longer felt strained and out of place.

Aiko backed into the trailer piece, stopping when her foot hit something. The teenager looked down, eyes widening at the sight of the silver pistol at her feet.

Drift, who had successfully kicked his opponent into another trailer, quickly tried to go for one of his swords that had fallen from his back. However, before he could grasp the hilt, the enemy came charging at him with a snarl and swinging the hook that transformed from his left hand. Drift jumped back and then went for a roadhouse kick, failing when the Cybertronian grabbed his leg and threw him over his shoulder, slamming the samurai face down onto the ground. The impact drew sparks and Drift grunted, optics glitching on and off.

"I have had enough of the games!" he hollered and dropped down on top of Drift just as he tried to recover. The black Transformer grabbed his neck and forced his helm back down while he strangled him. The Autobot thrashed and struggled underneath the black bot, dentals bared and teal optics blazing. The other was grinning, watching his victim struggle to maintain his systems as his Energon supply was cut off from his processors. A small figure dashed towards them.

"HEY!"

The abrupt shout successfully caught the black Cybertronian's attention, though his grip wasn't any less hard around Drift's throat as he glared at the human girl. Raising her gun, Aiko aimed and shot. The bullet whizzed through the air, puncturing and shattering a green optic. The Transformer roared and released Drift to cradle his face as Energon poured out. Drift took the chance in an instant, throwing a punch to his attacker's head and kicking him away.

Aiko jumped back as Drift ran to her, yelping when he swiped her right from the ground and guarded her by cradling her firmly to his chest armor. He glanced back once and then doubled his speed when the familiar vehicles of Cemetery Wind came around the corner after him, soldier hanging out of the windows with guns in hand. The samurai leapt forward, transforming around Aiko until she was placed safely inside his Bugatti form in the driver's seat.

Once Drift burst through the gates, they soon realized that they were no longer being chased. Instead, the black vehicles stayed at the destroyed site. Aiko realized that they didn't need to chase them. There was already a kill waiting to be picked up. That, and their Cybertronian buddy was probably fuming for letting them get away. They most likely had to regroup before setting out again.

Not a word was said the entire night. Instead, they focused on putting as much distance between them and Cemetery Wind as possible. After a while, Drift turned on his own radio and played a series of songs on low volume. Aiko wondered if it was to comfort himself more than her. The way he drove and the general vibe she felt indicated that he was dangerously close to losing it again. She let out a shaky breath and crossed her arms firmly over her chest. Her head was pounding, she was still shivering from the shock, and her back ached from the little trip she had with that Lamborghini.

At some point, the teenager curled into the cold seat. She hugged herself tightly and cried for the first time in years. Why? She wasn't sure. Maybe for Mirage. Maybe for Drift. Maybe for herself. Or maybe she was breaking under the stress of survival, under the fear of death every time she tried to rest, under the trauma of what she had just seen. Whatever the reason, Aiko found herself sobbing quietly, and after a while, she cried herself to sleep with nothing more than Drift's attempted comfort of a warmed leather seat.

* * *

 **My heart... it hurts. I'm not as heartless as it may seem. It physically HURT to write this, believe me, but it had to be done! As tempting as it is, Aiko is already a challenge to fit into AOE and it would have been hectic to find places for more characters who weren't in the movie. HOWEVER, think of it this way: just because Mirage and the other victims weren't in the movie, doesn't necessarily mean that we won't see them again. ;)**

 **"B-but Mexi, YOU KILLED HIM!"**

 **Yes I did. So how could we POSSIBLY see Mirage or any of the other Autobots again if I clearly kill them off? Well, I never said we WILL see them again for sure, but Mirage is kinda like Glenn from the Walking Dead (even though he's confirmed to still be alive, which does NOT apply to Mirage); he was an important character who helped develop the story, and so he will also help to finish this story. One way or another. You'll see. :)**

 **Keep Drift's scars in mind, too. They have an important purpose regarding his rough past. Again, those of you who are unfamiliar with Drift and his beginnings may want to look up his G-1 story because a lot of that is going to be used in here.**

 **We're diving to the deepest, darkest parts of the story next chapter. Can't wait to see your reactions. PLEASE don't forget to drop a review! WE'RE SOOO CLOSE TO 100! I don't even care if it's a rage comment because honestly, you all have every right to pour your emotions out after that trip. Tell me what you think, let me know how my action scenes are! Sit tight guys, and I'll see ya later. :)**


	12. Deadlocked

**It's the chapter we've all been dreadi-I mean waiting for...**

 ** _WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER_ : Psychological trauma leading to violent emotional meltdown, robot mutilation (gore but no gore?), and uncontrollable rage.**

 **There's warnings for a reason! PLEASE HEED THE WARNINGS! I think this fic is borderline M rated but not quite there yet. Just know that there's going to be some touchy subjects coming from Drift and to really put emotion into these subjects, strong scenes may be necessary. PLEASE let me know if this story would probably be best at M rated, as the M rating includes excessive violence.**

 **I OWN NOTHING BUT AIKO AND MY HEADCANNONS!**

* * *

It was like time reversed. Reversed, but with a horrible twist.

Here she was hoping things would get better. Hoping that Mirage was in a better place and that somehow they could move on. But no, things only got worse as time went by. Trying to pretend it never happened didn't change a thing either. Aiko was still in disbelief, Drift was still silent, and they were still in danger.

Drift had fled down to New Mexico. Except for the occasional stop for Aiko to grab whatever she needed, he hadn't dared to stop and find a place to stay. It concerned her that he hardly ever recharged, because according to what he had told her some time ago, recharge was important for a Cybertronian's well-being. It helped them conserve and reproduce energy. Drift hadn't given himself time to rest at all. Either he was driving, or he was anxiously waiting for her in the very back of a parking lot.

It was like they were back to square one. Right back at the warehouse months ago. She felt a mixture of different emotions like she had before; angry at Cemetery Wind and humanity in general, worried for a lonely and hurt Transformer, wondering like before if he'd simply take off and leave her one day. Drift had declined back into the secluded and isolated state he was in at the warehouse as well. He never transformed anymore, so long that Aiko sometimes had to pause and really think about what he looked like at times. He ignored her when she spoke to him, and began to twitch whenever she touched him.

Drift also hadn't spoken a single word in almost a month.

The heat of late July slowly faded away as night came closer. Aiko slowly came out of her uncomfortable slumber and shifted in the front seat of Drift's alternate mode. His car form felt slightly lopsided on the right, most likely from his hip joint that had been accidentally popped back in place. It was probably not quite in the right place, but enough to where he could transform again.

The first thing Aiko noticed when she awoke was that she was not hearing the ongoing roar of Drift's engine. Sitting up, the girl stretched for a moment before gazing through the window. She learned some time ago that asking was useless; she never got an answer no matter what she asked. Instead, she took the time to take in their surroundings. It would seem that Drift was not driving… or possibly not even awake, which would be rather surprising. Aiko peeked through the window, seeing it was about twilight with the sun down.

For a moment, it looked like Drift had parked himself into a back alley, but upon closer inspection, Aiko found that he had hidden himself between two complex buildings, and judging by the pavement ground and the distant stench of pollutant, the two buildings were a part of some factory area.

It seemed that finally, Drift put himself to rest. Curious, Aiko tentatively reached for the door handle and pulled. The result was the immediate click of the door locks, and even when she pulled it back up, the door remained clamped tightly shut. Which meant that Drift was awake if he were to lock her in. The girl sighed and leaned back into the seat. "What are we doing here, Drift?"

She wasn't expecting an answer, and an answer she never got.

"Are there people here? If not, then please let me out. My back hurts and I want to stretch out a little." she meaninglessly asked again, rubbing the Autobot emblem engraved into the center of the steering wheel. Drift used to like when she did that. Used to. She wasn't sure if he liked being touched anymore, but if he didn't, then he never openly protested or jerked away in any way. Part of her wanted to think he still silently enjoyed her gentle touches. The other part told her he was too numb or in distress to notice.

Drift did not need to speak anymore for her to understand him. All it took was the slightest lean to the side for her to know he was thinking. The clicking and humming of his systems deep within let her know he was using internal scanners for anyone nearby. The adjusting of his side view mirrors told her he was using them to check behind for danger. The door quavering slightly when she pushed on it signaled that he was hesitant to let her go. She had learned all of his body language in his car form in the time span he was quiet before in the warehouse. It was a set of observations that she was glad she had picked up on early.

The Autobot paused for a little while longer, then he slowly opened his door. Aiko gave the door a pat of gratitude and she climbed out of the interior. It felt all too stuffy in there after a while. She linked her fingers together and raised them up above her head as she stretched, exhaling contently as her back popped and loosened. Once she finished, she sighed and leaned against Drift for a moment, pausing when she felt some excessive heat that seemed to radiate from him.

Aiko threw the Bugatti a puzzled look as she took a step back. Drift sunk down on his axles with a soft hiss of hydraulics, as though he were uneasy under the pressure of her gaze. However, he did not move as the teenager came forward and pressed a palm to his fender, trailing her hand up and over his hood until the heat was unbearable in the center. She drew her hand back before she burnt herself, realization dawning at her. Aiko crossed her arms, a rather disapproving look taking over her features, "You overheated. That's why you're here, isn't it?"

The harder her eyes became, the more Drift's undercarriage was pressed into the ground.

"God dammit, Drift!" she tossed her hands up with a scowl, her temper officially lost, "This is exactly what I've been worried about! If you would have just stopped and fucking recharged, then this wouldn't have happened!"

Maybe it was unwise to yell in an unfamiliar place that could have people around, but for the moment, Aiko could care less. She was downright pissed at the Bugatti before her. She rubbed her face with a hand, growling under her breath. Although inside, she was more upset with herself to let this happen. Drift had frustrated her by staying silent, yes, but she felt that if she demanded him to rest more, then she could have prevented him from harming himself. For some unknown reason, she just knew that Drift could not bring himself to completely ignore her and it was an advantage she failed to take.

Still angry, Aiko simply hit his fender with a fist and mumbled, "Open. Now."

Drift knew better than to do otherwise, his hood popping open in an instant, though it lifted with evident reluctance. Steam sizzled out, more searing heat bursting out into the free air. Aiko leaned over, examining for any major damage. Nothing looked blown or out of place, just terribly hot. His relentless driving, combined with being exposed to the strong heat he was unaccustomed to on Earth, has simply led to a severe overheat. He was lucky his engine didn't catch fire and blow.

"There's nothing I can really do about this…" Aiko said, more to herself. "The good thing is, you didn't destroy anything. You're just going to have to sit there and cool off for a little while."

A small sigh escaped her lips as she stepped back. The girl looked behind her, seeing what was out there in the area. Might as well snoop around while Drift recovers. She could tell the property was not abandoned, but she doubted there would be anyone around at this time. Swerving around the Bugatti, she approached the trunk and tapped a finger on it. Drift opened obediently, allowing Aiko to lean in and dig into the bag she grabbed, pulling out her pistol and checking the safety switch before stuffing it into the back pocket of her stolen jeans.

"I'm going to take a look around," she declared, pulling her jacket over the gun, "I'll be back in a few. Keep your hood open and please just _stay there_."

If Drift was at all concerned for her, he didn't show it. Instead, he shifted on his wheels and then sat still. For a moment, Aiko wondered if he would even care anymore if she left and never returned. Not that she would do that, but it made her frown that he didn't seem even the least bit worried for her safety like he used to.

Backing away, she turned and jogged from between the buildings, leaving Drift in the shadows.

* * *

Aiko roamed the area for a good twenty minutes, nothing really interesting to her. It was just a plain factory premises that was still operating. She kept a lookout, but no one was around as twilight faded into darkness. The teenager slipped back out of a smaller building and only took two steps forward when the sound of crates falling over nearly made her jump out of her skin. She tensed, freezing in place as she listened. It came from next to the small building she came out of.

Slowly, she took a sharp left, peeking around the corner into the spacious gap between two buildings to make a short alley. Shadows cascaded over that area, making it impossible to see what was down there. But there was a crate here and there knocked over, clarifying that she was not just hearing things. Her eyes narrowed, sneaking from the cover of the building and standing before the alley, "Drift? Is that you?"

At first, nothing happened in response. Then, there was the sound of shifting metal in the distance, hidden in the darkness. The noises got closer, as though whoever or whatever was in there was coming closer. It was most definitely a Cybertronian, as the sounds resembled the ones Drift or Mirage made when they moved. Aiko squinted, taking a few steps closer, "Drift…?"

A low rumble pierced the quiet night, and it took her a moment to realize it sounded like growling. The hidden Cybertronian shifted closer, until it sounded about a few yards away. Metal hit the ground like footsteps, and they did not seem very welcoming. Aiko's heart skipped a beat. Those footsteps were not Drift's. He was quiet, his footsteps smooth and soft to match his elegant gait when he walked. These were loud, hard, and angry.

Angry, just like the pair of glowing red orbs glowering down at her and the fearsome growls that followed.

As Aiko took slow, shaky steps back, a large black form emerged from the darkness. Red, devilish optics gleamed. Large, bone-chilling fangs were exposed and glistened in the moonlight. Sharp claws flexed, ready to tear anything to shreds. Threatening steps pounded the ground as the stray Decepticon prowled closer, snarling, what looked to be drool or some sort of oral lubricant dripping from its savage dentals. Like a massive, feral animal.

The girl continued to back away slowly, her trembling hands grasping for her gun. However, in the tremors of fear, Aiko misplaced a single step and she fell back. The moment she hit the ground, the Decepticon let out a frightening roar and lunged forward. Loud footsteps came barreling towards her, and the girl ripped the gun from her backside and aimed it. At that moment, the Decepticon slashed with its claws, just barely missing her, but a single claw tip hit her gun and it went flying from her grasp.

Another frame flew by in the corner of her eye, and before the Decepticon could attack again, it was tackled right into the ground. The two forms tumbled and rolled on the ground, one bigger than the other, and it did not take Aiko long to figure out it was Drift.

Eventually, they kicked each other away. The Decepticon knelt like an animal and snarled, but Drift only bared his own fangs and snarled right back, sounding and looking just as animalistic as his opponent. It was as if all his nobility and sense of honor had been tossed out of the window, replaced by something that was just as crazed and just as savage as the Decepticon's own demeanor. Aiko scrambled back from them both, and she could not help but feel a shiver run down her spine when she could see Drift's sharpened dentals were considerably larger and longer than his opponent's.

In all honesty, Drift was much more frightening when he was angry than what that 'Con could possibly muster up.

And then, with an enraged roar, Drift lunged. _Pounced_ was a better term, like he was a predator who has targeted his prey. The Decepticon was down in an instant, making strangled robotic noises as Drift pressed it into the ground face-down. It seemed to have doorwings, which wavered and quivered as it writhed beneath Drift. Aiko expected him to draw a sword and finish the enemy, she wanted him to. This animal-like behavior was not him, and she hoped to see him do something that was still _Drift_.

Instead, she watched with wide eyes as the samurai let out an angry, yet distressed yell as he gripped a doorwing and ripped the part from the Decepticon's back. Wires tore and sparks flew, Energon spurting from the new injury. The Decepticon keened, its voice seeming to glitch and get louder as Drift simply discarded the doorwing and tore out the other. Then, that was when she noticed Drift's fingers, which had been elongated to reveal a set of long, lethal claws.

All this time, Drift had kept silent. He bottled his emotions after Mirage's death, holding them in. But now, as he seethed out his anger, his hurt, the bottle has been reopened, and a multitude of emotions came back to him that Aiko realized has driven him into a state of insanity. He was taking it all out on the Decepticon, digging his claws into its back and tearing into it, using violence as a relief for his viscous psychosis.

At some point, the Decepticon managed to flip over, feebly attempting to fight off Drift's psychotic rage. Energon flowed underneath where Drift had torn past its armor. The 'Con struck Drift on the side of his face, but it only fueled him on. Drift bared his fangs and, in a swift motion, latched them onto the throat cables of the Decepticon. The smaller frame howled, clawing at Drift's shoulders as the samurai snapped his head back, ripping out a mouthful of lines with no signs of mercy. The black frame slumped back onto the ground, Energon flowing from the neck area.

"Oh my God…" was all Aiko could say, mortified at the scene before her. She covered her mouth, sitting on the ground frozen as she watched Drift continue to tear out various parts and wires with his claws, yelling and growling shrilly as he did so. It was only a matter of moments until there was nothing but a heap of torn, cracked, and bent metal beneath him with pieces of Cybertronian internals strewn out everywhere. In his insane state, Drift ripped his way into the depths of the Decepticon's chest area, yanking out an orb of bright red light and crushing it between his clawed fingers, red electric sparks cackling along his hand.

Mirage's distant voice spoke in the back of her mind:

 _"But there was one Decepticon who was feared by all. No one knew where he came from or how he became so savage. He was a pure mystery…"_

There was a long, incredibly tense silence that followed. Aiko had managed to retrieve her gun, eyes not once leaving Drift. He sat kneeling above the Cybertronian he had just mutilated to death, blue armor stained and dripping with fresh Energon. Then, a distressed keen pierced through the night. A long, drawn out wail that was mixed with so many emotions, it was impossible to tell them apart. Drift's entire form began to tremble and he slumped over onto his knees. Finally succumbing to defeat. Finally broken.

 _"…On Cybertron, he led many raids, caused a lot of havoc and slaughtered many Autobots. It was rumored that during battle, he laughed as he shot us down, craved our screams as he ripped his victims apart and savored the Energon of the Autobots he mutilated. He was feared even by his fellow Decepticons, and it was debatable whether or not he was even more insane than Megatron, the leader of them all..."_

"Drift…?" Aiko whispered, her voice tremoring. She took a few tentative steps closer to the demoralized Autobot, who was still kneeling over his mauled kill. Her legs felt like jelly, her muscles so tense that they were cramping. Her heat felt ready to burst, almost like the Spark of the Decepticon within Drift's palm. "D-Drift, look at me…"

Drift did nothing for a moment, and slowly he turned his head. Aiko expected the face of a broken soul, teal optics emotionless and afraid.

What she wasn't expecting, was a cold hard face and crimson optics meeting her eyes. The girl stood frozen as Drift finally turned to her, his face no less sinister than the Decepticon he had murdered. She took a step back, mouth open and gaping, unable to comprehend what she was seeing as Drift slowly began to stand up, optics red, stained dentals bared, claws flexing threateningly, a low growl rumbling from deep within. Suddenly this was not Drift. This was someone… or _something_ else. Something darker, evil, and dangerous. The very thing that had killed those Cemetery Wind soldiers in the woods…

 _"…It was said his red optics reflected Unicron himself, a god of ours that brings nothing but destruction. His claws were long and lethal and it was said that if you were in them, your life was over. His fangs were the worst, because he used them to rip out throat cables or any part he could get a hold of. Insanity was an understatement. There were no words to describe that Decepticon and how much he craved death upon others..."_

Fear hit Aiko like a wave. She never felt as afraid as she did now. She was on the verge of hyperventilation, fingers curling around the pistol with nervous intent. For a brief moment, he felt a twinge of hurt and sadness as she distantly remembers a memory at the lake..

She could still hear Mirage's voice almost in her ear: _"…I am telling you this right now; if you ever, EVER see Deadlock, I want you to run and I want you to run as fast as you can. Never look back and never slow down. Just run…"_

"Drift? She said again, stepping back when he took a hard step forward. So unlike him…

 _"…If we ever see Deadlock, neither of us will be there to save you. Not me… and definitely not Drift."_

Her only response was an increase in volume of his snarl, dentals slightly parted as he continued to growl. Aiko began to pick up her pace, her backwards steps becoming faster, more rushed, desperate to get away from whatever this beast was before her.

 _"…He is very much alive. That is why I am telling you this now. To warn you that Deadlock is highly dangerous and he will kill anything that moves without hesitation..."_

Drift took another step forward, strong legs bent slightly. Aiko read that body language far too late, as before she could whip out her gun or even attempt to run, the frame lunged and was upon her before she could blink.

 _"…Including you."_

Aiko's mind, disorientated as it was, was centered on one single thing. _Deadlock_.

The teenager screamed as Drift- no Deadlock, came at her with hellish red optics and an enraged roar. She turned and sprinted away, vaguely feeling a whoosh of air as she barely dodged the swipe of his claws. She stumbled from the air, but before she could regain her balance, Deadlock sliced through the air again. He did not manage to cut her, but instead he struck her and sent her flying to the side, hitting the ground hard.

Aiko's breath was knocked out of her, pain flaring through her back as she struggled to get up. However, Deadlock was on her in an instant, lashing out and pinning her to the earth. The girl cried out, bracing herself, stuck between the deadly Energon covered claws as their tips dug several inches into the ground. When nothing happened, she peeked from between her own fingers. Deadlock's face came closer, nasal plates flaring. He hesitated, the snarl upon his lip plating disappearing as he regarded her. Those red optics seemed to lighten up ever so slightly. In just that small moment, she could see Drift there, just barely, staring down at her. Almost like he was pleading beneath Deadlock to get away, to escape.

Almost as if he were silently saying _, help me…_

Aiko stared back, paralyzed by that burning red gaze. Then, she brought her pistol up and flipped the safety switch off. Despite herself, she could feel tears running down her face. The memory of his lovely golden face up on the dock, curiously watching her aim the weapon, filled her mind. " _You know I'd never shoot you, right?"_

"I'm sorry…" she sobbed, bringing the pistol up. It all happened too fast for even Deadlock to react. Aiko turned her face away, placed her finger on the trigger, and fired.

* * *

 **Welp, that happened. As you can see, my Drift is MUCH darker than what the Bayverse Drift probably should be. But honestly, Bayverse Drift had no real personality to begin with, so I've filled him in with all of the dark GI/IDW Deadlock elements. Drift, as some of you know, was a Decepticon in his past. A very savage one, at that. A lot of Autobots struggle to accept him when he switched sides, and I think that that, combined with all the stress of Cemetery Wind and depression of Mirage's death, really broke his mental state.**

 **Because honestly, you can't live your life being constantly discriminated as a traitor who cannot be trusted, survive in fear and hurt after watching your comrade die, and be perfectly fine. You're most likely going to break down emotionally at one point.**

 **But don't worry, that why we've got Aiko. Hopefully, she can help Drift and heal his hurting soul. :)**

 **IMPORTANT NOTICE:**

 **I redid my poll! I removed Ratchet and Jolt because the prompts I had for them just were not working, but I'll put them back in once I come up with a stable plot. I changed the story titles because I didn't like them. I found songs that really suit the poll parings and used them as titles instead. I also went ahead and inserted the story summaries so you guys know what you're voting for. So PLEASE, if you guys would be so kind as to revote for me, that would be great. Thanks! :)**


	13. Animal I Have Become

**WE'VE REACHED 100 REVIEWS! YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE! Special thanks to BlackwingWitch for being my 100th reviewer! Thank you guys SO much for all the support for Savior, and to reward you all, here's an early update!**

 **This is going to be that bittersweet chapter. Our duo has to recover from the aftermath, but neither of them handle it quite well. Don't worry, it'll get better... eventually...**

 **I OWN NOTHING BUT AIKO AND MY HEADCANNONS!**

* * *

 _"Poetry?" Aiko nearly scoffs._

 _"Indeed," Drift says softly, his tone gentle and patient. The deep blue samurai has his arms crossed over the dock as he cools off in the lake, something he seems to be comfortable doing. Aiko sits cross-legged upon the dock before him, head tilted slightly. Drift merely smirks ever so slightly as he watches her, "A custom that our races seem to share. Japanese haikus, for instance, are similar to the types of poetry we once used. It is a fragment of our culture lost during the war, however, the friend whom had taught me the ways of the sword conserved much of our lost traditions. He taught me."_

 _Aiko is tempted to ask about this mysterious friend, but Drift's fluorescently teal optics grow distant. A memory evidently flashes past his mind, and she decides not to push on something that she could tell upsets him. There is something about telling history to her that makes him very uncomfortable. Not general history, just…_ personal _history. It is as though he is perfectly content with informing her about his race, but he just could not tolerate or even bear to tell her about himself. So instead, she addresses the topic presented to her, "Okay, so teach me. Isn't poetry all about nature and emotions and all that crap? I heard they have a ton of rules to follow, too."_

 _Drift's mood clearly lightens back up and he cannot withhold the small chuckle that escapes him, "Poetry can symbolize anything, Aiko. And do not think of them as rules. Think of them as guidelines. They are more flexible than you think. Some poems can describe the smallest of situations, while others can tell complete stories. Many have layered meanings; there is the literal meaning, as well as the metaphorical ones that lie beneath."_

 _"Sounds way too complicated." Aiko huffs._

 _The samurai shakes his head, amused, and his rich accent nearly sounds like soft purring when he speaks, "It isn't. Someday, you will understand."_

 _"Can you make up a poem right now?" she asks._

 _"What about?"_

 _The teenager shrugs, "Me. You. Us."_

 _"Gladly." Drift says. He is silent for a moment, his optics drifting away as he thinks over what to say. Then, he turns back to Aiko, and melodic words flow from his mouth to form a poem that is like a pleasant, harmonic song, "Lost within a storm, I was trapped within darkness…"_

 _The samurai reaches out to her, hesitant yet hopeful. Aiko lifts her own hand, and their palms softly press together. For the first time, Drift fully smiles at her, a rare sight only for her to see, and he croons fondly…_

 _"…Now, I see a light."_

* * *

The painful howl that followed the gunshot continued to echo in Aiko's mind. The girl sat against the nearest building she could scramble back to, gun still in her hands, Energon still stained on her skin and clothes. Some considerable time passed until she managed to bring her eyes up from where they locked onto the ground. She had her knees brought up in her chest, fingers rubbing over the holster of the weapon in her lap.

The distant lights of the factory area kept the property relatively lit. She wished it didn't, for the moment her eyes found the pool of neon liquid around a black heap of plating, she felt her stomach churn. She suppressed the urge to vomit as her gaze traced along a trail of Energon that disappeared into the depths of the property. She could still see those crimson optics in the back of her mind. The sharp, gleaming fangs. The long, razor sharp claws…

Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she was an idiot. Or maybe, she was brave. Whatever the reason, Aiko slowly, shakily, hauled herself up. She exhaled harshly, her shattered confidence slowly mending back together as she forced a step forward. Then another. Then another, until she urged herself to walk forward, gun reloaded. The teenager paused briefly, the lone trail of leaked Energon before her.

Aiko took a deep breath and willed herself on again, following the trail of the beast that had nearly killed her. The beast she had been with this entire time, the beast she had saved… the beast she had so fully _trusted_ …

* * *

 _Aiko watches as Drift and Mirage walk along the lake, their deep blue and bright red armor shining in the morning light. Mirage's doorwings would twitch every now and then while they talk, which grabs her attention. As the two Autobots come closer, she tries to listen in on their conversation._

 _Instead, she is surprised to hear that they have slipped out of the English language into something else entirely. In replace of coherent words, they communicate with undecipherable noises. Drift peers down at the smaller Autobot with a calm expression, speaking to him with complex clicks, whistling whirrs and soft cooing. Mirage simply nods, clearly understanding, and responds with a different combination of cryptic sounds._

 _It is obvious that they are speaking in Cybertronian, their own native language._

 _After a few more minutes of their unintelligible communication, they slowly part ways, and Mirage slips into the woods. Once the red Autobot is gone, the samurai turns his attention to Aiko, who gives him a confused look that evidently voices her thoughts. He stares at her kindly with those remarkably bright teal optics of his and slips back into her own language, "Mirage has gone off to test the frequency link. He shall be back within the next few hours."_

 _"That's what Cybertronian sounds like?" Aiko asks, both bewildered and intrigued. "Jesus Christ…"_

 _Drift gives her one of his rare smirks and kneels on one knee. It is a small detail she noticed about Drift. She entertains him and makes him just a tad happier in this dark time, yet he seems unable to properly smile. It is as though smiling is_ physically _difficult for him to do, like he has not smiled for millennia and has trouble forming a happy look upon his war-hardened face plating. It makes Aiko wonder… how long has it been since he has last smiled for him to actually be unused to doing it?_

 _As the girl comes closer, Drift speaks, "It is. We do not particularly speak with words as your race does. Rather, we communicate with a series of sounds that you had just heard. Odd, isn't it?"_

 _"Well, not really. I mean, you guys are aliens." She replies, "You're bound to talk to each other differently than we do. So I guess it's impossible for a human to learn it, huh?"_

 _The samurai tilts his head, seeming to mull over that thought, "I believe it is possible for a human to read and understand our language, but due to the lack of sounds your vocals can create, speaking it would indeed not be possible."_

 _Aiko nods slowly, then she remarks, "Reading a robotic language sounds like a pain in the ass. And I thought Asian languages sounded complex."_

 _"It is not as complex as you may think," Drift replies, settling down comfortably on his knees, "We have symbols that represent the Earth alphabet. For example…"_

 _He hesitates for a moment, thinking. Then he looks thoughtfully at Aiko before leaning down. The girl watches curiously as he reaches down and begins to draw into the earth with a finger. She rounds him to his side to see the four symbols he shapes out in the dirt. They almost resemble Asian characters, but they are more curvy, more circular, and in a way more elegant. She studies them for a little while until she switches her gaze to Drift questioningly._

 _"You," he says softly, gesturing from her to the symbols._

 _"Me…?" Aiko repeats, looking from Drift to the symbols. Slowly she evaluates that simple word, and a smile graces her lips when she puts the pieces together. "You wrote my name in Cybertronian, didn't you?"_

 _Drift clicks and hums in confirmation, and he scoots back a tad to draw some more symbols, "Would you like to learn the basics?"_

* * *

The Energon trail led her to another building on the far end of the factory area. Aiko's fingers tightened their grip around the pistol as she peered into the open doors. It was pitch black inside, and it took her a while to let her eyes adjust before she could make out a large, dark frame pressed against the wall, formerly hidden in the darkness. The teenager froze, her breathing withheld with nervousness.

He sat near a corner, curled into himself. His legs were brought into his chest, his head tucked and hidden behind his knees. A small shift of his position clarified that he was still functioning. Deep blue armor was missing paint, scratches marring the plating and dried Energon staining it. From where Aiko stood, she could hear his labored and uneven venting.

She made it to about a couple meters away when he almost pleaded to her without looking up, " _Get away."_

Aiko stopped mid-step, her eyes wide, ready to flee. Slowly, his head lifted, reluctantly. Her mind raced with two simple questions: Drift? Or Deadlock?

Teal blue optics met her gaze. Dim and emotionless. Broken. Drift's face was unreadable, his lip plating pursed to a thin line, neither friendly nor aggressive. His once soothing, accented voice was reduced to an unstable, shaky tone. His entire frame was tense and afraid. It made Aiko wonder… what was he afraid of, exactly? Of her? Or of himself? Of _Deadlock_?

Suddenly this was all too familiar. Drift, cornered and huddled into himself, frightened and injured and potentially dangerous. Capable of lashing out in retaliation to feeling threatened at any moment. It was as though they were right back in the warehouse. Aiko let the déjà vu fill her mind, and her voice came out as a soft, familiar whisper, "Drift, it's okay. Listen to me-"

 _"GET AWAY!"_

Drift hollered, his voice seeming to echo throughout the entire factory. Before Aiko could fully react, the samurai snatched one large katana and flung it across the building. However, Aiko was ready; she knew this would happen just like last time, and she moved out of the way quickly enough for the deadly weapon to fly by her and crash some feet behind her. Her muscles flexed, ready to dodge again in case Drift decided to try again, but when he did not move, she eased herself from her crouched posture.

"Drift…" the girl pleaded, holding her hands up and promptly tossing the gun aside. She didn't have a weapon then, and she didn't need one now. She was afraid of Deadlock, not Drift. The samurai she had known for so long had come back, and she knew deep down that he wouldn't launch that second sword. Aiko spoke to him delicately, pushing herself closer just as she had done before, "Listen to me, Drift. It's all right now. It's me, you know me…"

"NO!" Drift cried out, his voice shrunken to a strangled wail. He pushed himself firmly against the wall and slid back into a corner, optics glazed and lost in blind fright. His voice had nearly raised an octave, and instead of that rich and wise voice she had become so fond of, she heard something else. A voice that was younger, more vulnerable, an unfamiliar part of Drift that slipped through his stoic mask and the secluded barriers that he had caged himself in ever since she met him. The distant look in his teal optics let Aiko know he was now lost somewhere in his frantic conscience, trapped within a mind-frame of panic. "Please, no!"

"Drift, _stop_! It's me! You're okay!" She called out to him, trying to calm him and bring him back to her. Trying to make him _see_ that he has no reason to be afraid, that he didn't have to suffer through all of the stress and trauma alone. That whatever it was that was frightening him, whatever he was seeing in place of her, was not going to harm him anymore. The girl tossed all caution out of the window, coming forward and reaching out to touch and softly stroke a plate of tremoring blue armor on his leg, begging to him desperately, "Come back to me, Drift. I'm right here, you're safe…"

"I _can't,_ " he whined, burying his face into his hands, strained robotic sounds erupting from his vocalizer that could only resemble choked sobs, "I see Deadlock! All I ever see is him! All I ever _am_ is him, no matter how hard I try! I will never be free from him…"

Aiko frowned deeply. The samurai had broken down under the pressure of Cemetery Wind and the built up emotions that had accumulated inside him after Mirage's demise… but now it was put to light that there was so much _more_ he was internally hurting from. There was evidently more that she did not know about that was shattering Drift and pulling him into a world of hurt and mental trauma. She was partially confused; in reality, she realized that there was no Drift and Deadlock. Drift _was_ Deadlock, yet for him to be so scared of _himself_ … that in and of itself was strange. It reignited the questions she had wanted answered for so long. Who was Drift? What was his story? And more importantly… what more had happened to him in his past that could result in such a strong amount of emotional _pain_?

But that all could wait for a later time. Drift did not need her sitting there wondering about him, he needed her there to help him. So instead, Aiko pushed those thoughts aside and used what she had just heard to reel Drift back into the real world, back to her, "Drift, please look at me. _Look at me_ , Drift."

The broken Autobot's hands slowly dropped, revealing his face to her finally. Aiko's heart twisted painfully as his lost, lifeless optics met her eyes. The entire left side of his golden face plating was splattered and caked in thick, neon blue Energon, some of which as still dripping from a clean bullet hole through what would be considered his cheekbone area. His claws were still out, still covered in dried Energon of the Decepticon he mauled and the fresh drips from his own face.

"Oh, Drift…" she murmured more to herself. It hurt her, seeing the wise warrior she once knew being degraded right back down into the timid and scared creature she had first run into. Aiko fearlessly reached out and gently touched a stained claw, unfazed by the Energon. Drift vented shakily, but hesitantly opened his hand more, as if unsure. But the teenager's intentions became clear when she came forward and stepped into his palm.

There were so many mixed emotions she could see flowing through Drift's optics. He was confused, he was scared, he was angry… but by walking right into what could literally be considered a death trap, she wanted to show that no matter what, she still trusted him. She stood between five long and lethal claws, unflinching as they curled around her to support her as she was lifted from the ground.

Drift held her close, placing her between his palms, and when she lifted a hand, he brought her closer and cradled her to his face. Accepting her offer of comfort, tender and gentle comfort. Small fingers extended, and Aiko placed her hands on either side of his face, not caring in the least about the warm Energon trickling over the back of her left hand. The girl took a deep breath and pressed her forehead to the bridge of Drift's nasal plates, thumbing his cheek plating and letting him find much needed tranquility by nuzzling and holding her close.

A few minutes passed, and Aiko could feel the Energon being washed away by the flow of cold, optical fluid.

"You can fight this," she whispered to him, "You can fight _him_ , Drift."

"You do not understand…" he murmured back, too emotionally drained to protest with a raised voice anymore, his optics off and his dentals clenched together in attempt to withhold his pain, "I have tried… for so long. But he always comes back. Always. I am not strong enough. I never will be…"

His voice was down to a low, broken rasp. Aiko shushed him before he could possibly get worked up again, and she shook her head, "You will fight this, Drift. You're going to keep fighting and you're going to win, you hear me? I'm here now, and I'm going to help you beat this, beat _him_ …"

"I can't-"

" _Yes_ you can," Aiko pulled back just a tad to meet his teary optics, which had reopened. She hooked her fingers into the seams between his plating and pulled up to make him look at her directly. Caressing his dampened face plating, she asked carefully, "But I don't understand, Drift. I can't help you through this if you won't tell me."

"Tell you…?" he repeated, as if he were having trouble comprehending what she was saying in his haze of emotions.

"Tell me, Drift. Please, tell me about Deadlock…" she says softly, staring him right into his optics, "What is scaring you? What happened to you? Tell me what you're running from… tell me what it is that's hurting you…"

Drift shook his head, instead letting out a pained whine and pressing her back to his face. Aiko sighed and let him, finding herself releasing the topic if it meant she was able to soothe Drift like this. The girl slid one of her hands down his face, ignoring his tears, and gently stroked along his jawline. She whispered to him one last time, her voice turning reassuring and determined.

"You will fight this. And you will win, because I'll be here to help you. I'm here to save you, Drift…"

She felt him vent against her, warm air ghosting over her midsection lightly as he did so. It was then that she realized that his barriers had crumbled; the blockage he had hidden himself in was gone, and now she knew that there was something horrible, something unimaginable that haunts him. Drift knew he had no choice but to put his ultimate trust on her now. He had to believe that this human girl would be able to pull him through his trauma, for the emotional pain had become too much for him to bear alone.

 _"Tasukete kudasai…"_ Drift whispered, "Please… help me…"

Sometime later, Drift's radio suddenly buzzes on, and Aiko frowns as she takes in the lyrics of his chosen song…

 _"So what if you can see the dark inside of me?_

 _No one will ever change this animal I have become!_

 _Help me believe it's not the real me!_

 _Somebody help me tame this animal I have become!_

 _Help me believe it's not the real me!_

 _Somebody help me tame this animal!_

 _Somebody help me through this nightmare!_

 _I can't control myself!_

 _Somebody wake me from this nightmare!_

 _I can't escape this hell!"_

* * *

 **Song is Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, which I do not own in any way, shape, or form. This song could literally be Drift's theme, it describes him pretty darn good if you ask me.**

 **There's MUCH more than just Deadlock that were going to get into. Lots of G1 coming up, people. Drift's got some major instabilities from what he's gone through when he was young, and as you can see those horrible memories still haunt him, and the added stress of both controlling Deadlock and avoiding Cemetery Wind are clearly not helping much either. But what ARE these bad experiences Drift's gone through before his time as a Decepticon? Well, you'll have to wait and see. ;)**

 **Also, SWEET NEMORIES ARE TOO SWEET. Making up a lovely haiku for Drift to describe Aiko was fun. I should make him speak more haikus often, haha. PLEASE, don't forget to review and maybe state what YOU think Drift is suffering from if you know about this G1/IDW comic history! :)**


	14. To the Skies

**_ATTENTION: Please, don't forget to vote on which story you want to see from me next! The poll can be found in my profile, and if you haven't already, I'd GREATLY appreciate it if you'd drop a vote for me before Savior is finished. Thank you! :)_**

 **So the plot bunnies got me again. That's the only excuse I can give. I had to rewrite this particular chapter 3 times because I didn't like how it turned out. I'm still not satisfied but... oh well. It's as good as it's gonna get. I've made it extra long to make up for the lack of updates. :P Also, HAPPY VERY LATE NEW YEARS TO YOU ALL! I don't know about you guys, but I know I'm looking forward to what 2016 has in store! But anyways, about those plot bunnies...**

 ** _IMPORTANT NOTICE!_ I've made some changes to Savior, nothing too major, just some alterations regarding the movie and the post-segment. So here's what I've got:**

 **1\. I changed my mind about Sideswipe. Don't get excited, because he's still not going to be in the movie, but what I have in store for him is something you guys are going to absolutely hate me for. But it's necessary because it affects what will happen later. Back in one of the earlier chapters when Aiko hears about Sideswipe's death on the news is now replaced by Skids and Mudflap.**

 **2\. No Shane. I'm sorry for any of you who have a problem with that but just... no. He was just useless and annoying to me, so Aiko is going to take up some of his scenes and dialogue. I plan for her and Tessa to be close. I KNOW he helped Cade and Tessa escape, but let's just pretend they somehow got away from their house and managed to get away with Optimus.**

 **3\. Tessa's attitude. She'll still have her dialogue, but now that I've kicked Shane, I plan for her to become less whiny, less of a shallow character, and more of someone who I think she should have been. She could have been a more enjoyable character if Bay didn't make her so... clingy to Shane and distant from her father. The closest I can compare her new characterization to is Mikaela, someone who doesn't constantly cry and complain about everything and does more to the story than just be eyecandy for male viewers.**

 **4\. As an Alternate Universe story with an OC kinda replacing one of the characters, the movie is going to be altered around a little. Not only because I have to make way for Aiko, but because I want to mix things up. We've all seen the movie and we expect the same old things to happen. Of course, the plot and general story will be the same, but there's going to be extra scenes, extra dialogue, and alternate twists in my version of Age of Extinction.**

 **5\. Since I'm making changes to the movie, Drift is definitely going to be MUCH more involved in the movie. There are multiple scenes where he just plain disappears for no reason, so I'm going to make sure he keeps a consistent and reasonable appearance through my AOE rewrite. This means that he'll have more dialogue, more purpose, and he'll be doing more stuff with the group other than just being in the background... or not at all.**

 **6\. The Autobots are going to be a bit more aggressive when we first get to them, not only towards Aiko, but to each other. This includes Drift and even Bumblebee. I say this because some may think I'm making everyone OOC, but that's intentional. The Autobots have been betrayed, hunted, and have been forced to run and hide for a full 4 years. They're stressed, pissed off, hurt, and afraid, so everyone is bound to be irritable, angrier, distrustful and prone to breaking their character to snap and fight one another.**

 **Those are the changes I've made. I hope you guys are all right with them. Now that that's out of the way, here's chapter 13!**

* * *

The unusual feeling of warmth encased Aiko as she slowly came to. She shifted once she awoke, first trying to grasp her current position. The girl's memory felt fogged, but she could still clearly remember the events of last night. It caused her senses to snap awake along with her and she felt around herself for whatever she was laying on. She could feel smooth metal and seams in between plating, and after a few minutes of blinking, she realized where she was.

It was early, right before sunrise, the first rays of light shining over the factory area. Aiko sat up from where she laid in Drift's palms, his hands resting over his abdomen. His body was slack, still cramped and curled up into a corner and, judging by his off optics, seemingly deep in recharge. It would seem that, sometime into the night, they had fallen asleep with Drift still holding her. His fingers, she realized, were now just simple and blunt at the tips, which was a tad bit comforting to her knowing that she didn't sleep in those monstrous claws. At some point he must have retracted them.

Not that she was particularly afraid he'd use them while she was sleeping, just that clawed hands in general weren't exactly the most welcoming place to sleep in.

The girl stretched out as far as she could within Drift's hold, twisting around to take a quick look around over his fingers. Nothing had changed, of course, but she briefly envisioned the workers in the factory area having a field day with the mutilated Decepticon outside. She paused on that thought, and then she nearly jumped with the realization that they were still _in_ the factory. And they had better get out before anyone arrives early.

Aiko swore under her breath, whipping back around to try and wake Drift. A part of her felt bad, however, because she was relatively sure that this would be the last time she'd see him look so peaceful… as long as she ignored the capacious amount of dried Energon that still stained his face plating. That and the fact that this was probably the most amount of recharge he's had for months. But they couldn't run the risk of being caught, so Aiko stood up in the samurai's palms and began to hit at his abdominal plates, trying in hasty attempt to awaken him. "Drift... Drift, wake up! We need to go! _Drift_!"

At first Drift didn't seem to be budging any, but as the teenager pounded onto his armor harder, the samurai began to stir. A loose groan escaped him when he came to, teal optics flickering on and internal systems coming online. His movements were stiff and sluggish, but after a few minutes passed, his optics dilated wide and he jerked up, almost flinging Aiko off of his lap in the process if she hadn't clung to his plating. The girl suppressed a yelp in case it would startle him further in his instinctive defensive awakening, and instead she patted his armor cautiously while whispering harshly to grab his attention, "Drift, it's fine. We're fine. It's okay!"

Drift's nasal plating flared as he took a sweep over the area before lowering his gaze to the girl he didn't seem to realize he was holding. A look of surprise and confusion shaped his face, until everything came back to him and he slowly began to relax. His bright optics pierced through her dark brown eyes just like they always had, and the deep blue Autobot sighed deeply as he lifted a careful hand. Aiko stood back and allowed him to run his fingers delicately down her spine in an almost caressing manner, touching her feather-lightly, _apologetically_ , as though she were the most fragile thing he had ever held (which she probably was) and he was afraid that any more pressure would shatter her.

"Aiko…" he whispered, his voice only slightly quivering, although she was unsure if it was because he was still booting up or he was still pulling himself together after his emotional meltdown last night, "Aiko, I'm sorry-"

"No time for that right now!" Aiko said, the urgency clear in her voice despite the tight feeling in her chest with Drift wanting to apologize for what he had done. But that could wait until later, and as she spoke, she could hear engines of distant machines being activated from the factory workers who were definitely there. "There are people here! We have to leave now, before they find us!"

The samurai's head snapped back and he craned his neck to the side, possibly listening for himself. Aiko heard a mumble of ' _frag'_ and Drift quickly deposited her onto the ground before flowing to his feet in one whole fluid motion. He stretched briefly, interlacing his fingers and bringing them up high above his head, emitting a grunt as his back struts popped and loosened. Then he crouched slightly and almost prowled over to the front entrance of the building, pulling the doors apart only slightly to gaze through the crack.

He was back to acting like Drift, or _trying_ to anyway, as though he were attempting to forget about the fragile emotional state he was in last night and mask it once again by his normal stoic demeanor.

Aiko scrambled after him, weaving between his feet to take a look as well. There was a bunch of commotion outside, including the shrill wailing of sirens as police cars rolled in. Officers and workers alike surrounded the area in the front, a distinctive yellow tape surrounding a heap of black metal and various parts strewn out. As she studied the scene before them, she heard Drift whisper above her, "The Decepticon…"

"Must be investigating it…" the teenager replied, watching the authorities examine the maimed Decepticon, like an autopsy almost. Although she really doubted that, even if it was clear how it died, they would ever figure out who had quite literally ripped it to shreds and why. However her thoughts flew right from her mind when an awfully familiar group of black vehicles pulled in. Aiko watched in utter disbelief as they parked around the sight, and she could hear a deep, hostile growl from above her that was frighteningly similar to what she had heard last night.

"Okay, now we've _really_ gotta go!" she said, backing away and craning her head up to look at Drift, who was heavily fixated on what was going on outside. Aiko pounded the armor on his leg with a fist, trying to get him to get away. "Drift, let's _go_."

"Wait…" the samurai murmured, leaning closer, "Look."

Aiko let out an anxious and exasperated huff, but turned around and snuck another glance through the crack. At first nothing seemed different to her, but then her eyes caught on to a white truck with a large trailer that had pulled in. With the factory workers and officers escorted aside, a group of people in white lab coats jumped out of the truck, writing on clipboards, taking pictures, and beginning to load the dead Decepticon and its spread out parts into the trailer. The girl squinted, focusing on the logo on the side of the trailer. "What the hell is KSI?"

Drift paused for a moment, "I cannot say that I know… but nevertheless, it seems to be a corporation responsible for retrieving all of the Cybertronians that this Cemetery Wind takes down. I have seen them before, when I witnessed a different rogue Decepticon be hunted approximately two years ago. Though I concur with your previous statement; we must leave immediately."

"There's a side entrance from where you came in, but that's too risky." Aiko said, "There's a back entrance too that leads straight to a back gate that'll get us out of here. But I don't know if that's clear either."

"Go and see," he replied, optics narrowed and trained outside, "I will keep watch in case they come near. Be careful."

Aiko nodded, and the patter of footsteps let Drift know that the human girl had sprinted off towards the back to check if it was clear. Drift kept a close optic on everything, although it would seem that the humans were far too drawn by the kill he'd left behind to bother opening more of the buildings at the moment. The samurai was not particularly worried with that Decepticon corpse serving as a distraction and offering plenty of time for an undetected escape.

Drift's locked gaze faltered and his optics slid to his hand that was placed onto the door. Teal optics widened, realizing that most of the plating of his hand was stained bright blue. He took a careful step back from the doors and looked down at himself. It hadn't occurred to him until right then, how much of a mess he was. His deep blue armor was simply _caked_ in dried Energon, splotches of it spattered mostly over his torso and all over his hands.

He swiped his glossa over the surface of his sharp dentals, and Drift had to withhold himself from purging his tanks then and there when he could taste the Energon on each lethal fang and every pointed incisor. Frag, and he used to _enjoy_ this repugnant taste? It reminded him far too much of himself in the battlefield, lost in a blind rage, shooting down every Cybertronian who bared the blue optics he had come to hate at a young age. Drift frowned as unwanted memories of Deadlock grinning like a mad mech and drenched in the Energon of the Autobots he killed came back to him, and the samurai shook his helm, as if that would help shake them away.

He subconsciously reached up to feel around his face, and instantly jerked his fingers away when the whole left side of his face zinged with an agonizing pain. He couldn't help that painful wrench of his Spark when he remembered why exactly that side of his face was so irritated and sore. The small bullet was most likely still lodged within his face plating, though there was no real way to get it out without a medic. He could only hope and pray that the exposed wound wouldn't develop a rust infection.

Drift had to keep reminding himself; Aiko _had_ to shoot him. Even if she claimed long ago that she would never, she simply _had_ to. In a way, she did not shoot Drift, she shot Deadlock, the beast who had found a way through Drift's walls and clawed his way to the surface. The samurai honestly deserved to be shot. Despite all of his self-control he had developed, despite all he had been taught from a certain friend, he _allowed_ his emotions to get the best of him, _allowed_ them to break down his walls for Deadlock to come raging out.

He allowed Aiko to see who and what he really was.

It was a disturbing fact that antagonized him to no end. She was a human girl who was only trying to help him survive. She didn't need to know about the monstrosity that was Deadlock, but it seemed that fate, and Deadlock himself, had other plans. Drift was not sure what was worse; knowing that he had attempted to kill the very girl who had saved him, or knowing that she was one of the few who had survived an encounter with Deadlock and had no choice but to survive with the same Cybertronian who had lunged at her with violent, murderous intent.

 _I cannot hide myself from her anymore._

Reluctant as he was, Drift could not bring himself to continue to keep her in the dark any longer. There was no point, for she had already seen what he had hoped she'd never have to. It was going to be painfully difficult, but nevertheless he decided that it was time Aiko knew the story behind him. It was not by any means a pleasant one, but it was a story that the young girl now had a right to know.

But first, they needed to get the _frag_ out of here.

Aiko had not come back to clarify whether or not it was safe to escape out back, and it was admittedly putting Drift on edge. Slowly he backed away from the front entrance, closing the crack between the doors. The samurai took careful, tentative steps backwards, taking careful notice of everything to avoid stepping and knocking over anything. But it seemed that was the least of his worries, for as Drift fully turned around, he froze mid-step, optics about as wide as the factory worker's eyes staring up at him.

The human male wore a bright orange vest, a very bright and attention-grabbing color. Drift immediately took a quick sweep around for others, but there was only one intruding human, a curious worker who had wandered in. Most likely lead on by the Energon trail Drift had left behind when he fled into this very building. There was a tense silence between them, neither daring to make a move, neither knowing exactly what to do.

Then the man took a step back and, seeing that Drift gave no reaction, took another step back. The samurai stepped forward in desperate attempt to quell the human's movement before he ran off. His fingers twitched, though Drift ignored the urge to let them extend into one of his more prominent Decepticon traits. He didn't want to have to kill again, he'd done enough of it lately…

Then Drift saw it with apprehensive horror. The man opened his mouth, but only got as far as a grunt before something swung from behind him. It struck the human on the back of the head with a _thunk_ that even had Drift internally cringing. As he slumped onto the ground, Aiko took a deep breath and lowered the crowbar she was holding. She took one look at the unconscious man and then up at Drift disapprovingly, "I thought you were _keeping watch_."

"I… suppose I had forgotten to watch the side entrances," he replied, plating loosening from when he had pulled it tight against his body at the face of the worker. "Are we capable of escaping back there?"

"Yeah, but some Cemetery Wind guys are patrolling. Either we sneak out or outrun them, which I don't recommend since you overheat way too easily." Aiko answered, taking quick looks behind her as if she feared she had been followed, "You're good at being stealthy, right Kurosawa?"

"I like to think so," Drift said, discarding the unusual nickname for a later time. The blue Autobot weaved his way towards the back, but the girl stayed behind for a moment. She instead knelt down by the worker, and hastily began to feel inside the pockets of his vest. Drift called her name rather harshly, but Aiko ignored him, searching until she pulled out a wad of cash in a back pocket and a pack of cigarettes from inside the vest.

 _"Aiko!"_

"I'm coming!" she snapped back, stuffing her findings into her own back pockets and grabbing the crowbar before she ran off after Drift. When she caught up to him, the samurai had pried the doors apart just like he had done at the front entrance, optics narrowed as he scanned the outside area. Aiko came forward and took a peek herself. Sure enough, there were black vehicles patrolling up and down the roads surrounded the factory.

But evidently, that was not what Drift was staring at. Instead, he openly voiced just what had caught his optic, "An armory."

"What?" Aiko looked up at him.

"Across the road," he replied rather thoughtfully, nodding his head towards it without once breaking his stare, "An Air Force armory. _"_

"Yeah, what about it?" the teenager asked, genuinely confused why a military armory across the road would interest him so much. Drift did not immediately reply, but rather he pried the doors wider apart, careful to kneel lower to avoid being seen. He stepped back and smoothly folded himself down, transforming into his alternate mode, which was noticeably a complete wreck. Dents, scratches, and dried Energon maimed the surface, rendering him a rather rugged looking Bugatti.

Although, considering her own Energon-stained clothes and skin, she was not much better.

Drift opened his door for the girl, an offer she quickly took as she slipped into the driver's seat. The door snapped shut, and he suddenly snaked the seatbelt across her body and pulled it snug against her. It momentarily caught Aiko off guard, unsure if whether he was preparing her for a wild ride, or simply trying to comfort her in this dire situation with the closest resemblance of a hug that he could accomplish in his car form.

The Autobot hummed to life and rolled out of the building, engine low and soft as Drift wove through the storage trailers scattered around, stopping whenever one of Cemetery Wind's vehicle rolled past on the other side of the gate. Drift clearly had some sort of a plan held together, but she had yet to figure out what it was and how he planned on getting past the patrolling vehicles undetected. They had to hurry, before the commotion up front is resolved and the factory workers come to resume their tasks.

 _"I need to reach that armory,"_ he finally said through the radio. _"We must be silent…"_

Aiko's fingernails dug into the black leather seat, her breathing hitched as Drift snuck through the factory's property. The open back gate was only meters away, but with Cemetery Wind patrolling the road on the other side, Drift hid behind a large crane, waiting for an opening. But there were three black vehicles on the road, rendering it practically impossible to cross without being seen. Unless…

The girl looked through Drift's window, eyeing the crane that was currently hiding them. The massive yellow machine sat idly, holding what looked to be a couple hundred pounds of metal beams. The beams were tied together by thick cabling that the crane had hooked high up in the air. Her eyes went up and down, down to the SUVs on the road, and up to the metal beams.

Aiko had a vague idea in her mind, and the teenager quickly went to open the door. But before she could get out, Drift snapped his door closed, shoving her back into the seat with a grunt. The quick reaction temporarily disgruntled her and she yanked at the lock on the door, however Drift kept it locked down tight. _"And what do you think you are doing?"_

"Let me out!" Aiko growled, hitting his door with her palm, "I have an idea but you're _not_ helping!"

 _"We cannot risk being seen."_

"And we can't just sit here until they find us either!" she retorted, "Look, I think I can do something with that crane. If I can create a distraction, then maybe we can make it to the armory."

 _"Aiko-"_

The girl scoffed, "Do you have a better idea?"

 _"You are not,"_ Drift's voice was down to a dangerous growl through his radio _, "going_ anywhere _."_

"Watch me."

Aiko snatched the crowbar she had placed in the passenger seat. Hauling the iron tool over, she swung it over and lodged the manual lock in front of the window inside the small cleft on the end of the bar, yanking and forcing it up as though she were pulling up a nail. Drift's radio made a strange strangled noise, but Aiko had quickly pulled the handle and forced his door open, climbing out before he could fight against her. The Autobot called her name in a harsh static whisper, but Aiko ignored him and climbed into the cab of the crane, knowing that he was powerless to stop her now.

She slumped into the stiff seat of the crane, hunched low so as not to be seen. Her eyes scanned over the control panel with various controls and about twenty different levers. Just perfect. She knew the mechanics of most vehicles, but she was nowhere near a professional. Especially with a ridiculously complex machine like this monstrosity she was in. Aiko ran her fingers over the levers, ducking down and searching for any labeling that could help her. She looked over everything with frantic eyes, knowing that she had to hurry before anyone from the front would find Drift, or before Drift himself would do anything.

"Oh thank God," Aiko whispered, her gaze landing upon a lever that was all the way up off to the side with "lift" labeled above it. At least, she hoped and prayed it was referring to the crane's hook. The girl grabbed the ball of the lever and pulled, however it seemed jammed or just impossibly hard to pull down. As she yanked and pulled, a flare of panic hit her when she heard the wail of a police siren nearby. The sound seemed to give her the flow of adrenaline, and the teenager finally put nearly all of her weight down onto the lever until it finally gave in, dropping instantly to its lowest level.

Aiko slumped over it with a small yelp, eyes reopening wide when she heard the snap of the hook's cable as it let loose. Moments later, she looked up just in time to see the metal beams fall onto the concrete ground below with a massive _CLANG_ , taking out a good few feet of the gate along with them. Almost instantly the Cemetery Wind vehicles halted, and the soldiers climbed out of their SUVs to investigate.

Aiko nearly fell out of the cab from how fast she scrambled out, practically diving into Drift when he flung his door open and slammed it shut behind her. As she regained her breath and straightened out in the driver's seat, Drift hissed through his radio with irritation that was clearly a mere cover-up for his fear, _"I hope you know that you are going to be the fragging_ death _of me!"_

"Sorry," was all she said in reply in a flat tone that was the direct _opposite_ of sorry. Instead, she hit the steering wheel, "Now go! They're open!"

Drift gave no hesitation and jumped forward, halting briefly to watch the commotion down the road, and then he silently exited through the gate and snuck across to the armory. Once in, Drift swerved around to the side of the building, hidden from Cemetery Wind, and popped open his door, _"I need you to get out."_

"What?" Aiko said, "Why?"

 _"Trust me,"_ Drift replied, his voice hushed and urgent, _"Please, just trust me."_

 _I don't know if I can anymore_ , the thought almost left her lips, but instead she kept it in. She _wanted_ to trust Drift, she really did, but after what he had done, that trust level had dwindled. With the truth about Deadlock that she had just recently discovered, it made it so difficult to look at him the same way as before; to see him as that kind, soft-spoken and samurai. Instead, that image was now plagued with the more evil, _darker_ side of Drift that she had been so oblivious to.

His whole split-personality dilemma, in short, was keeping Aiko wary of Drift. Someone with a condition like that rendered it very difficult to trust them.

But Aiko kept these thoughts in. They could wait for a later time. Sighing through her nose, the girl slipped out of Drift. Even if she didn't trust him, she really had no choice in this situation. Drift's engine hummed and his window rolled down, _"Stay close to me."_

Her mouth opened in reply, possibly to question why riding inside him wouldn't be easier, but she let it go and nodded. She wanted to ask, but Drift seemed to have a solid plan with this armory, so she did not question him. Silently, she jogged after him as he approached the thick fencing behind the military building. As he sat idly for a short moment, as if to evaluate it, Aiko snuck a look through the fence. Inside, there was a collection of helicopters that were stored, guarded by the high electric fences for only the Air Force to use. Suddenly, Aiko had a vague idea of what Drift was thinking of doing.

Drift was normally one to be silent and stealthy, but in that moment he simply said _'frag that'_ and went full speed, using every bit of tremendous horsepower within his Bugatti mode to propel him through the electric fence. The quick action earned him a jump of surprise from the human girl, who watched with wide eyes as he plunged through the fence with a storm of cackling electricity zapping the entirety of his frame.

The high voltage surged through Drift's systems with a surprisingly painful rush that he was not expecting, causing him to momentarily paralyze from the shock. In the back of his processors, he made a mental note to _never_ underestimate humans and their ways with electricity again. Aiko ran up beside him, however she refrained from touching his metal surface after being exposed to the high amount of electricity.

"That looked like it hurt," she commented, "Are you alright?"

 _"Fine,"_ a strained reply came through his grille, _"Remain here for a moment…"_

Drift's tires quivered beneath him from the aftershocks, but he pushed on and wove his way through the military aircrafts, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared among them. Aiko had the strong urge to follow him, but heeded his order and stayed where she was. However, in the corner of her eye, she could see Cemetery Wind through the fence across the field and dived behind a nearby helicopter before one of their vehicles rolled past, praying that they won't see Drift inside either.

Minutes passed, and the girl began to grow antsy. She carefully snuck a glance around the large helicopter and was almost horrified to see that the entirety of Cemetery Wind had grouped together, most likely to plan their next search. Although the fence limited her vision, she could have sworn that the man walking from car to car talking to the soldiers through the window was Savoy. Aiko stepped back and immediately abandoned Drift's command, darting from one aircraft to the next to try and find him.

"Where the hell did he _go_?" she murmured to herself. The armory's property was not that big, and it left her wondering just how Drift disappeared from the cluster of helicopters in the field. " _Drift_! Drift, where are you?"

 _"Aiko!"_

The teenager nearly jumped a good ten feet in the air when she received an instant reply from behind her. She whirled around to find nothing but the helicopter she was in front of. "Drift?"

 _"Here."_ He said, however that was not helping her any. If anything it confused her more, hearing his voice so close yet not seeing him _anywhere_. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Aiko heard a short sigh, and then jumped again when the helicopter behind her blew a puff of air into the back of her head through the vent scoop on the side of it. Startled, she looked back and instantly noticed that the deep blue Sikorsky S-97 helicopter looked terribly out of place among the camo-green ones.

Aiko gaped, "You've got to be kidding me…"

Drift slid back the door of his new form, confirming that it was no joke and that he really _had_ changed his disguise, _"Get in, hurry!"_

"Oh God, Drift. I've never been in a damn helicopter before!" Aiko hissed, not at all a fan of heights.

 _"There is no time for protests!"_ Drift hissed back, _"Get into the cockpit, hayakusiro!"_

Knowing she really had no other option, Aiko shook her head and climbed into the side of the blue Sikorsky, crawling up into the cockpit and settling into the seat, getting a feel for the new interior. A part of her was sad that he had given up his Bugatti mode, but the other part reminded her that he didn't choose that car for luxury, but for its speed so that he could get away. The same went for the Sikorsky; flying was most likely a more efficient way of traveling.

As Drift started up his new mode, Aiko gripped the seat, feeling him buckle her in and pull her securely against the leather. The sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air rang in her ears and thundered into her head, but she shook it off and forced herself to ignore it the best she could. There was no doubt that a random helicopter starting up in the armory field was drawing the attention of Cemetery Wind, but they were protected by the fence and Drift was already taking off before she heard the shooting of guns.

"I'm gonna be sick," Aiko groaned, sinking into the seat, feeling her head grow dizzy as Drift swayed a bit, as though even he wasn't used to being in the air. The teenager refused to look down for a while, simply keeping her eyes trained ahead, feeling the samurai finally stabilize himself and gently steer to the left. She briefly watched the joystick maneuver around on its own in front of her and was glad that Transformers could control themselves, otherwise she had no clue what to do with the controls strewn out before her.

A little holder popped open under the control panel, revealing a blue and black headset with a mic. A small smile gracing her lips, Aiko grabbed them and placed them over her head, grateful that they muffled the pounding of Drift's blades as they spun faster and faster. There was a little static ringing through them until it cleared and Drift's voice spoke into her ears, _"Better?"_

"Much," she breathed, feeling her headache ebb away, "Thanks."

Her heart pounded from the new experience and she finally gazed down below, bewildered at the sight of the ground dropping. Soon they were a couple hundred feet in the air, the New Mexico terrain spread out vastly before them. After a while Aiko relaxed, letting herself get used to the feeling of sitting inside a helicopter. Drift seemed to notice, for he spoke through her headset to check on her, _"How are you faring? Well?"_

"I… I guess so."

There was a moment of silence, and then, _"…I'm sorry, Aiko."_

"Don't," she said, holding a hand up, "I just… don't want to bother with that right now…"

Drift was silent for a short moment, and then he spoke softly, _"I would like to… tell you something. I believe it is time for me to fully explain myself, if you would like me to…"_

Aiko perked up at that. He was offering answers to the questions she had ever since they first met. It was tempting to say yes, but she was simply not feeling well. She doubted she would be able to listen properly with her stomach churning. She simply wanted to be left alone at the moment, to regroup and think about what had happened, so instead she shook her head, "Not right now, Drift. I really want to know but… I just need time to think to myself. Can it wait until later?"

 _"Of course…"_ he replied, but Aiko could hear the strain in his voice, as though it was physically difficult for him to hold in whatever he had to say, _"Whenever you are ready…"_

"Thank you," the girl said, "I have a headache, I'm tired, I'm confused and… I'm filthy."

She looked down at her dark hoodie, disturbingly stained with dirt and Energon. She was unsure of how she'll explain that when she has to get more stuff in public. As if he sensed her apprehension, Drift unclasped the safety belts, _"If you are comfortable enough to move, your bag is in the back."_

"What? You still have that?"

 _"I do. You never removed it from my subspace… or trunk, I suppose."_

"Oh thank God," Aiko said, completely forgetting about her slight fear of heights as she scrambled out from the cockpit and made her way to the back. Sure enough, her travel bag was sitting peacefully upon one of the back seats. The girl ripped it open, looking over the little packages of food, bottles of drinks and clothes. Quickly pulling out a set of new clothes, she stripped down out of all of her dirty clothes, not even worrying about Drift. She really doubted he would have any interest in the human female anatomy, and she was relatively sure he was more focused on flying to notice her anyway.

She flinched as she pressed her fingers to her right side, and looked down to see a massive bruise there. Some soreness on her back lead her to believe there were a few more there as well. Aiko frowned, and a flashback of a clawed hand striking her on that side flew past her eyes. She reached behind her back, massaging lightly, and remembered the hard impact of the ground after she had been struck.

Shaking her head to dislodge the memory, she slipped into fresh clothing and stuffed the old ones into a separate pocket of the bag. She took a quick sweep over herself, now wearing a dark blue tank top with a mint blue jacket over that, a pair of simple skinny jeans and a pair of black converse. Now she looked like any other teenager, aside from the Energon stains on her skin and greasy hair. It made her cringe to feel the dry black locks, but she had no way of washing them.

She caught sight of the cash that had fallen from the dirty jean pocket and she grabbed the wad, stuffing it into a newer, cleaner one. Aiko slowly made her way to the cockpit, tossing the bag into the second seat before settling herself into the other. After placing the headset over her head, she fingered the mic and asked, "Um… so do you have any idea where to go?"

 _"At the moment, no."_

"Oh."

Aiko shifted in the seat, feeling Drift strap her back in. The conversation ended as quickly as it had started, leaving the two in a rather uncomfortable silence. A good ten minutes passed when Drift suddenly made a small _ahem_ noise, drawing Aiko's attention from the window. She stared at the control panel with a bland face, though that quickly changed when Drift blurted out something she was _not_ expecting.

 _"Would it… make you uncomfortable if I say that you look rather captivating in blue?"_

Aiko was unsure what part of it made her laugh the most; perhaps his words, his awkwardly innocent tone, or maybe it was simply the, dare she say it, _adorable_ way he had said it. Either way, it made her forget about everything else and brought a laugh to escape her, the first laugh she let out for a very long time. "Erm… that's really random."

 _"It was intended to be,"_ Drift replied, amusement evident in his lighter tone, _"Just a compliment on my part. Is that… weird?"_

"No, Drift. It's not weird. Thank you." Aiko said, withholding a chuckle from not expecting him to use the term 'weird'. Drift was being incredibly awkward, but in an amusing way. She wondered if the little compliment was true or he was simply trying to lighten the mood. Either way, it was unexpectedly… _sweet_ of him to do.

The samurai hummed contently into her ears, and he responded softly, _"You are very welcome-"_

 **"BRRRRZZZK! BZZZZZK!"**

Aiko gasped as a horrid screeching noise filled her eardrums. It sounded glitched and popped static but through that, she could hear it… so faint at first that she had to force herself to strain her hearing through the screeching. She could hear a voice, cackling and calling out through the static. A voice that was _not_ Drift's.

 ** _"Thi…is Aut…ot Smoke…does…nyone…opy? I re…eat…thi…is…bot…screen…doe…any…cop…?"_**

As fast as the weak transmission came, it ended. The screeching and thick static died down, leaving Aiko with aching ear drums and Drift with complete disbelief and surprise. The girl slid her hands beneath the headset to rub her ears, trying to process what she just heard. "Umm, what in God's name _was_ that?"

 _"A transmission."_ Drift said in amazement, _"An Autobot is attempting contact through our frequency link."_

"What? Really? _Who_?"

Drift was already opening his communication systems, clinging onto the frequency he just received and sending out a message of his own. _"This is Autobot Drift, do you copy? I repeat, this is Autobot Drift, do you copy?"_

 ** _"…I…opy."_**

The voice replied with a little less noise behind it, allowing Aiko to hear it a little clearer. It sounded young, although she was unsure since she could barely make it out. The unknown Autobot sent another message, but it wasn't as clear as before. All she could make out were bits and pieces of words. Drift, however, was not about to give up and he reached out to his comrade, refusing to let the weak frequency deteriorate their communication. _"I cannot properly read you! Can you tell me your location, copy? I repeat, can you tell me your current location?"_

A few moments of tense silence… and then a reply.

 ** _"Mon…ment Va…ey. I r…eat…Monu…alley…"_**

Aiko perked up slightly, "Monument Valley, I think he's saying Monument Valley. That's in Utah, right?"

The Autobot attempted more contact, but his voice faded out and was drowned underneath the screeching and static once again. So much that Aiko had to remove the headphones for a bit to make sure her eardrums were still intact. She held one side of it close to her ear, waiting until the noises died down before putting them back on. Drift gave a low growl as the frequency shut off, _"Lost communication with him."_

"But at least you got a location out of him." The teenager said hopefully, "Utah's where we need to go."

 _"Then to Utah we shall go."_ Control stick jerking to the side, Drift steered himself in a different direction as he marked the location in his navigation systems. _"There is only one potential problem…"_

"And that is…?"

 _"The fastest way to this Monument Valley is through a city."_

* * *

 **Hehehe... I bet none of you were expecting that Autobot, huh? I've got so many plans ahead, you guys don't even know. For the record, I don't think an armory would be next to a factory, but hey it's FanFiction. Not EVERYTHING is going to be 100% realistic, right? Drift will open up at long last and we FINALLY get to see a new Autobot next chapter, but it's NOT the one who contacted Drift. Also, I wanted Drift to be cute because we haven't had enough fluff lately. I had to put a little bit in here. Even if Deadlock is within him, Drift can still be a dorky sweetheart, right? ;)**

 **Updates should be smoother now that I've gotten this difficult chapter out of the way! I'm not good at recovery, post-major event chapters apparently. PLEASE, don't forget to drop a review and tell me if this chapter is as bad as I think it is. Give me your thoughts and predictions! :)**


	15. The Crying Child

**I meant to update last weekend, I really did, but I had to deal with something I never thought I'd have to. Savior has been plagiarized, and I had to pause everything to get that under control. I'm not going any deeper into the situation, nor mentioning names** **and the website where they attempted to copy. It's done and over with and that's all you guys need to know.**

 **But guys, seriously, copying my story -or ANYONE ELSE'S for that matter- is NOT cool. DON'T do it.**

 **On a side note to the rest of you, PLEASE don't make accusations and/or threaten others you suspect (I've seen it happen before with stories multiple times). I love all of you, anonymous or not, even my silent readers, and I'm grateful for all of the lovely support I've received with Savior. But please, what's done is done, so don't feel the need to put things into your own hands when it's already been taken care of. Please and thank you! :)**

 **Also, unfortunately, I had suffered a car accident, which was another factor to my lack of updates this past month. No one died, nor got critically injured, but I had suffered a sprained ankle, a sprained wrist, a broken arm, and a minor concussion. I am now fully recovered, save for the broken arm, but for the most part I am back to normal. Typing with a broken arm is NOT easy, so there's probably a slagload of grammar mistakes I'll have to go over later.**

 **Well then, now that that's all over with, enjoy the chapter! It was... hard to write because all the angst must strike again! Once again, Drift goes through some very difficult places emotionally. BE WARNED, I suck greatly at writing about mental/emotional issues, but I like to think I'm doing okay. If any of you have read Drift's G1 story, you'll know that he is a very tragic character, and I'm doing my best to make this as tragic as possible to do him justice, even if it rips everybody's hearts to shreds. ;)**

* * *

Aiko tightened her grip on her travel bag as she entered a small motel in Albuquerque.

A day of flying and driving later, they reached the city that seemed to block their fastest route to Monument Valley. Turns out, Drift was still able to maintain his Bugatti form, something Aiko was admittedly happy about. Something about having a second T-Cog that makes him a "triple-changer" with the ability to maintain two alternate modes. She liked his newer helicopter mode, even if it meant she had to get over heights, but his Bugatti mode seemed to mean more to her, because it was the first form she saw him in. Sounded a little sappy, yes, but it was true.

Drift only ever used his car mode when Aiko needed supplies. He would sneak into a gas station normally near midnight and wait in the parking lot for her as she slinked into the store and nabbed an overabundance of whatever she needed. Normally she paid with the wad of cash she took from the factory worker, but she was cautious to save most of it. There were times that she would stop and stare at Drift through the windows. He almost always parked as far as possible or in a corner where he would be hidden in darkness, his mainly black frame blending him into the night.

So many times he could have slipped off and left her. So many opportunities he had to get rid of the burden that was her. Yet he was always there when she came running out, door opened invitingly to the safety of his interior. Maybe it was just who he was; to stay loyal. Maybe it was some sort of Cybertronian instinct or programming. Or maybe it was something else entirely…

Whatever it was, it kept him with her all this time. All this time he trusted her, even if she didn't fully trust him anymore, even though he knew that trusting a human was risky and could cost him his life. The human race was dangerous to his own; Drift knew it and Aiko knew it.

And here they were… two completely different beings, surviving together as one.

Multiple times Aiko thought over had transpired over the last few days, last few _weeks_. She often thought about the first few days when they ended up together, about their interactions in the woods, about Mirage and his gruesome death, about Drift's mental breakdown afterwards, and most of all, she thought about Deadlock. She still wanted to know what the story was about Drift, yet at the same time she didn't; it made her hesitate and wonder if she was ready to hear his story, or if it was best to leave it a mystery. Aiko had quickly figured out herself that Drift was a Decepticon at one point, for Mirage had told her that Deadlock was one of the most feared 'Cons ever known. A title that, as she had learned first-hand, Drift rightfully claimed.

But even after everything, the two of them still stuck together, even if neither of them knew why.

"Room for one?" the woman behind the counter asked as Aiko approached.

The girl nodded, pulling her wad of cash from her back pocket, "Just for one night. Does this place accept cash?"

"Yes, we do. That will be twenty-one dollars, hon." The older woman replied after typing on her computer. The teenager nodded, pulling out a twenty and a one. While she waited as the woman searched for a key, Aiko thought over why she was there in the first place. They would have been halfway to Monument Valley already, but the two of them were forced to stop in Albuquerque when apparently the Autobot who had contacted him ended up closer than what they expected.

Of course, they had learned last time not to trust an Autobot signal so soon. It ended up being an argument whether or not they should investigate the signal, even if the Autobot frequency had been compromised prior. Drift had claimed that, even as ruthless as Cemetery Wind was, he doubted that they would want to lure Autobots to public areas. Aiko was not so sure, but their dispute came to a conclusion that Drift would drop her off in the city to wait out the night while he went to follow the signal. He would pick her up either late at night or early in the morning.

The girl was hoping and praying that he'd be back by morning.

But what if he wasn't? What if Drift had been lead right into another trap – one he wouldn't be able to escape from?

What would she do? Where would she go?

"Here you go. Have a good night." The woman behind the counter said, handing Aiko the keycard to her door. Aiko simply nodded in thanks and left the counter, towards the stairs that lead up to her given room. Gripping her travel bag, she found her door number and swiftly slid the keycard over the scanner, listened for the small beep, and went inside.

The room was small, nothing fancy, but comfortable enough for a single night's stay. It had electricity, a small bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a working shower. That was all that mattered to her.

Dropping her bag next to the bed, Aiko let out a small sigh, running an overwrought hand through her dry hair. The black locks upon her head were scraggly and greasy, earning a disgusted grunt from the teenager. It wouldn't be the first time she hadn't been able to shower –the memories along that route she would much rather ignore- but this would be by far the farthest she'd gone without one. She'd been running with an alien whose life was on the line. The opportunity to take one never was exactly presented to her.

But it was now, and Aiko didn't hesitate to grab a fresh set of clothes from her bag, but upon standing back up, she paused as her dark brown gaze landed upon the remote on the night stand. She paused momentarily, and with a movement she couldn't control, she reached down and plucked the remote from the stand, staring at it with a firm frown and apprehensive eyes.

There was a moment of pondering- should she, or shouldn't she? It was severely tempting to see what the news have updated about the "alien hunting", yet at the same time the girl really did not want to know. After Mirage, after what she had seen happen to him, she was not sure if she could handle hearing about another Autobot's death. Because now she knew that there was a Cybertronian- one of their own kind- helping Cemetery Wind secretly, and now she knew how exactly all of those Autobots died.

It was easier to hear about their deaths before Mirage, when she didn't replace the memory of his screams and his writhing with other Autobots as their Sparks –their _souls_ \- were ripped away.

And she feared that the next Autobot on the news, the next one she'd be imagining in place of Mirage, would be a blue and black Bugatti found in the streets.

So instead, Aiko slammed the remote down and, with a hasty eagerness to be clean and a desperate need to stop thinking, rushed to the small bathroom.

* * *

It felt all too familiar.

Drift drove silently through the alleys, shrouded in the darkness, his mainly black car form aiding him in blending in. The walls made for a narrow alley, smaller than what Drift was used to, causing him to feel tense, on edge, _cornered_. Using his navigation systems, the signal led him into the slums of the city, where he was careful to avoid running into anyone. What an image he'd make; a driverless Bugatti, bashed up and covered in a strange bright blue substance. He could only imagine what that would cause. It made Spark pulse rapidly, because deep inside, in the distance of his processors, old memories he had locked away were threatening to come back to him.

The one thing he hated most about this planet was how much it reminded him of the past he'd much rather forget and never go back to. So many locations and environments that resembled Cybertron's. Like Earth, his home planet had these big cities, a working government, and as it would seem, both planets had a darker, more _violent_ side of society that was the city slums. It was downright disturbing, how alike the slums were, and the memories that Drift had with them made him want to turn tail and abandon the signal that was taking him deeper and deeper within the area.

Deeper into the area that reminded him far too much of the dangerous slums that he grew up in.

Voices were all around him, in nearby alleyways, down the street, behind him. His sensors picked up the humans who were moving around in the streets. None had crossed his path, not yet anyway. It was all too familiar, the hiding, the paranoia, the filth covering his frame… the constant fear for his life…

This wouldn't be the first time he was in such an environment. No, he was more than familiar with dark alleys and the city slums, with the thugs who lived there, with the violence that often ensued there. And… Drift's armor crawled.

He was more than familiar with the illegal substances he knew these homeless humans had.

Because on Cybertron, before the war, he was not any different.

Cautiously, the samurai cruised down the dirty pavement and took a sharp turn. Initially, it seemed like another alley road and Drift stiffly drove on, suppressing the urge to run away from this bad place, the urge to run from what could possibly a signal from other Autobots, the urge to run away from his memories…

But he could not leave. He was here for a reason, not only for the sake of that signal, but for the sake of himself.

And he had gotten so focused on withholding that urge that he hadn't sensed the human sitting against a dumpster, who gave a low whistle and called out to Drift, "Heeey, Preeetty Carrr…"

Drift froze and his engine stuttered.

"Wharryouu doin' 'ere, Preetty Carr…?" the voice was slow, drawn out, almost unintelligible for the samurai to understand. The human male spoke again, but it was too garbled and slurred to have any meaning. Drift's Spark pulsed with panic at being found, yet at the same time he was concerned. He'd heard the speech of many humans, but this was by far the strangest. No one talked that slow or that incomprehensibly. Here was something wrong with this human…

And Drift was thoroughly disturbed at having a good idea of what it was.

He reversed a few feet, coming face to face –or face to bumper in this form, rather- with the human with his head lolled back against the dumpster. It was then that Drift could see the dilation of the pupils, the languid movements, and the careless smirk upon his lips. Nearby, there was an old, ragged bag with opened food containers spilled around it. The human turned his head to the battered Bugatti before him and chuckled, low and raspy, "Youu betteh' get outta here… Pretty Carrr… they gonna getchoo…"

Drift inched forward, if only to get a closer look at what he was seeing. The human shifted against the dumpster, completely oblivious and unintimidated by the living, alien vehicle just feet away. The Autobot sank lower on his axles, relaxing, realizing the gravity of his situation and becoming utterly revolted by it. This human was clearly on some heavy illegal substance, and because of it, Drift was nothing more than a drug-induced hallucination. Drift knew it and the human knew it.

So Drift huffed through his grille, his processors filled with troubled realization and disbelief as he mumbled through his grille out loud, _"You are on heroine…"_

"Mmhmm… the goood stuff…" the man said, a loose grin on his face. He reached up with a weak hand, yet he did not attempt to get up, evidently not having the energy or strength in the moment to do so, "Sssuch a preeetty carrr…"

And that was the moment when Drift became even more unsettled then he already was as a thought hit him.

 _Aiko_ had been in alleys like this. She had seen people like this, the thugs and the violence.

And if he hadn't taken her when he did, she could have ended up like this.

His Spark flared almost painfully on that thought, and he shoved it out of his processor before other disturbing thoughts about the girl's fate without him could escalate. He reserved, almost hitting his rear bumper against the opposite wall. The samurai stiffened once again, _"I need to leave this place..."_

"Waait, Preeetty Carr, don' goo…" The man called after the Autobot. He began to move, attempting to get up, and the sudden movements caused Drift to panic again. The human's other arm moved, and out of his palm rolled a small, used syringe. The little tube pattered against the filthy pavement and stopped less than a foot away from his front bumper.

The sight of it triggered a chain reaction of thoughts and memories that Drift had kept locked away for so long, and as they came flooding back, he lost all sense of hiding and roared his engine, charging down the street, away from that human, away from that syringe, away from those memories.

But no matter how far he would go, he would still feel the memories nip at his heels, testing his sanity with their violent and brutal content, just as they always had…

 _Drift, a limping and lonely youngling roaming the streets, his plating so filthy that it is impossible to see he is white, internally hoping that no gangs come by and beat him again for being on their territory. Hoping that a kind adult Cybertronian will come by and find him, help him, feed him, take him from this horrid place and take care of him, love him and protect him like his creators should have._

 _Drift, older but barely past his youngling stage, a teenager in human standards, yelling and screaming and crying in pain in an alleyway, unheard as he is held down by strong, cruel hands and his T-Cog is cut out of his side, the part intended to be sold off for the thugs' own greedy and merciless gain._

 _Drift, a young mech who has lived in the streets his whole life, stealing Energon, fighting for credits, and injecting himself with an illegal narcotic being all he knew in order to survive. A young mech who has gone down the path of a circuit-booster addict, craving the highs of Syk for a chance to feel nothing, a chance to escape his hell, a chance to forget this life he lives if only for a short amount of time._

 _Drift in an alley, drenched in Energon, golden optics dark and hateful, walking away from the five dead Autobot officers he murdered who lay in a pool of their own Energon. Away from the five Autobot officers who shot and killed Gasket, his only friend, his only hope, his only source of happiness in that dark and cruel world. Away from it all and towards the mysterious mechs with the red optics, who extended a hand and promised him a new life with revenge against the Autobots who took everything away from him._

It all came back to him too far, too fast, and Drift stumbled into his bipedal form before he crashed into a wall. He should have been worried about being completely exposed, even if the darkness cloaked most of his massive form, but he wasn't. Instead, Drift shot an arm out against the wall before he collapsed into it, sharp dentals bared, armor pulled tight against his protoform as an instinctual defense mechanism, jaw clenched so hard that it began to ache. He vented heavily, the smallest of whines escaping him as each and every memory he had and every painful emotion he felt in the environment he was in now flowed through his processors, bursting through that barrier he had worked so hard to build up.

He thought he could handle city slums. It shouldn't be getting to him now. After all, this was not even his planet, no matter how scarily similar it was. He was older, wiser, and stronger.

But he was wrong, so wrong. Evidently, he was still not strong enough to face his fears.

Frag that signal. He needed to get out, _now_.

So Drift whirled around, ready to take off back to the parts of the city less traumatic for him, back to Aiko. His Spark spun rapidly with every echo of the voices in his memories, his frame twitched with faint reminders of everything it had endured in the past, none of it being pleasant. The permanent scarring in his protoform hidden beneath his armor could prove that. Drift was more than ready to leave these slums before they trigger even worse past experiences.

But he froze as he turned to a dark street and his Spark felt ready to burst from its casing, right then and there. He felt something- a movement. It blurred past the very edges of his peripheral vision and vanished before he could spot it. Something that felt so close was something Drift should have been able to sense with his strong sensors, but he stretched them out and found nothing within at least a mile radius.

The samurai's nasal plating flared, one arm instantly whipping back to the small of his back to grasp a hilt of one of his katana, but not yet pulling it out. Dexterous fingers held the weapon readily, optics sharp and searching for any hint of movement. He waited, but with his scrambled processors filling his conscience with unwanted reminiscence, the only thing Drift found himself searching for at that moment was his sanity, before agonizing remembrances stole it away.

Then he heard the crying. A pitiful, Spark-wrenching, yet familiar sound that came from the street behind him. Why was it familiar? The answer was so disturbingly simple, because Drift had heard it over and over and over again.

It was his.

And Drift regretfully turned around to the whimpering, teal optics wide at the sight of a little youngling standing in the center of the small alley. The moonlight illuminated a filthy white frame, bent helm finials, and the shivering, dented, and frightened frame of the little weak thing he once was in the streets of Cybertron. Fearful yellow optics looked up, streams of optical fluid running down delicate, innocent face plating. Innocence that had been snatched away from Drift far quicker that it should have.

Drift- the adult one, the _real_ one- gaped, jaw quivering slightly as he vented out shakily, and he took a step back from, well, himself. No, this was impossible.

Searching for his sanity was pointless now. He was seeing _himself_. It seemed that he'd already lost it.

And that's when he decided to find it again by shaking his head with a frantic "no" and taking off in the opposite direction, away from the illusion he was undoubtly seeing, only to grid his dentals together when his own cries got louder and more desperate the farther he ran. Drift wove through the slums, completely discarding the signal, discarding his prior care of being discovered, turning into alley after alley to get away from the crying youngling that was himself.

But here was no escape and Drift knew exactly why; it was all in his head.

But he ran anyway. He wanted to escape from this horrible mistake of attempting to face one of his old fears. He wanted to cry like little youngling-Drift deep within his Spark, who had found his way out and was terrorizing him, just like Deadlock. He wanted to find Aiko and pick her up and cradle her to his face and never let her go, because she was now the only thing that could help him get away from his demons.

She got him away from Deadlock, the violent part of himself. She could get him away from Little Drift, the frightened part of himself, too.

But Drift's hopes came to a dreadful stop when he turned a corner and collided with a large building that made up a dead end. The samurai grunted, stumbling back but possessing enough instinctual balance to keep from falling back. He dented the garage door, he had hit it so hard. For a brief moment, he stared at the building, which was large enough to have a garage door at almost his height.

But the curiosity was short lived as Drift heard another sob behind him. He whipped around, moving back until his rotor blades and his swords were pressed hard enough to the door to deepen the dent he'd already created. Youngling Drift was right there, as always, a deep quivering frown on his small lip plating and his wide golden optics gleaming with fright. And all Drift could do was stare as the youngling took a step forward and reached out a feeble arm, asking for the help he never had.

 _"Stop!"_ the samurai hollered, so desperately wanting this psychological torture he was doing to himself to cease, bringing his hands to his head, "Go away! _Get out of my head!"_

And just like that, the crying stopped.

Drift remained in his braced position for a few seconds, and slowly opened his optics. He dropped his arms and his teal orbs wavered at the sight of nothing more than an empty alley before him. He was not sure what was more astonishing; realizing that no one had heard him now that he'd somewhat come back to his senses, or the fact that his own frantic, traumatized mind listened to him.

No human had heard him, but it would seem that someone else did.

There was no time to react, and Drift was too late to catch up to his senses to hear the garage door behind him slide open. He was too late to move away before two pairs of glowing optics like his own gleamed in the darkness of the run-down building and their owners reached out to grab the samurai. Four arms latched onto blue armor, two around his waist and torso, two more over his mouth and his arms.

And that was when Drift tumbled into a hectic mind-frame of the fears he once had in the Cybertronian streets, all sense of his surrounding gone. His teal optics bulged and he struggled against his sudden restraints. In that moment, he could not remember himself or his surroundings. Was he in the streets of Earth or Cybertron? Was he a youngling or an adult? The only things he could ever remember were the same thoughts he always had whenever this had happened.

He was being grabbed and pulled into a building. He did something wrong. He was in a gang's territory and now he was going to pay for it. Or did he steal something and they found him? He was going to be beaten again. They were going to make him hurt and bleed again. They were going to toss him back out in the streets after they were done, leaving him once again a sobbing mangled mess. Or maybe they were going to kill him for whatever he did this time.

He was possibly going to die.

With that last thought, Drift struggled and _screamed_ until his vocalizer glitched and he could no more as the garage door slammed shut and he was suffocated by the servo over his mouth and the pitch black surrounding around him.

* * *

Aiko leaned over the small balcony, drawing a cigarette from her mouth. Using her free hand to tuck a damp strand of hair back, she blew out a thin stream of smoke and stared at the empty street below. The same street Drift had disappeared down in order to follow that signal. Only a handful of hours in and she was already wishing he didn't go. She had a bad feeling about it. In fact, she had a bad feeling about a lot of things in that moment.

Including the driverless red, white, and blue Spania GTA Spano with the racecar-resembling paintjob. She watched it slink down the street and seem to follow Drift's path as it turned a corner and vanished towards the back alleyways of the city.

* * *

 **Gee, I wonder who that could be.**

 **Oh Drift, you poor, poor broken baby. Who wants to just cuddle Drift and give him kisses and tell him it's gonna be okay? I know I do. I just keep torturing him, but it needed to happen! I have a little personal theory in mind; Drift actually has three parts, or "stages", of himself rather than just two. Autobot Drift, Decepticon Drift (Deadlock), and who I like to call, Neutral Drift, which is him before the war, when he was very young. And obviously, Neutral Drift is almost worse than Deadock because he has SO many bad experiences in the streets. Poor Drift thought he could kill two birds with one stone and overcome his fear of Neutral Drift while finding the signal. Clearly that didn't work out at all.**

 **...Or did it? ;)**

 **Don't worry, Drift's past will be correctly explained a little later on.**

 **We'll have to see next time! PLEASE don't forget to drop a review. I want to know how I did with psychological conflicts, as this is the first time I've really dug deep and attempted the most deepest emotional content I could think of. I wanted this to be almost difficult to read, powerful, and completely unexpected, but at the same time I was paranoid of overdoing and/or butchering it. How did I do? PLEASE, let me know! Tell me how much you want to love on Drift right now, because by Primus, he needs all the love and comfort and affection he could get right about now. D:**

 **Also, we hit 16 reviews for one chapter! Amazing, guys! I would LOVE if we kept that up, and I'll do my best to reply to everyone! Have a good day/night, and I will see you again soon! :)**


	16. We're the Survivors

**Real quick guys,** **I want to reply to two reviews real quick, who had addressed something I feel the need to clarify. I would have PMed, but the reviews are anonymous. From kind reviewer NCISWarriorCats/Seeker (who I am ASSUMING is the same person? Let me know if I'm wrong!):**

 ** _"Love this story! Could you please not have it as a 'tronianXOC fic? Those make me really uncomfortable."_**

 _ **"Yeah...sorry about that. I just get reeeally uncomfortable while reading 'tronian/human!OC fics (like slash. That gives me the heebie-jeebies). No offence ment.**_

 _ **However, I am perfectly fine with a brother/sister or Guardian/Charge kind of relationship."**_

 **First off, I want to thoroughly thank you (or both of you?) for taking the time to review and I'm happy that you enjoy Savior! Now, with this whole Cybertronian/OC dilemma. I can't say much due to spoiling, but I can understand where you're coming from. We're pairing a 30 foot mechanical alien with a human; it's going to seem awkward with how they interact. I can say right now that I will NOT take things too far in terms of interaction between them. Nothing "sexual" will happen between Aiko and Drift's bipedal form. Stories like UlurNaga's _Primary Mechanisms_ is a good example, which does include situations like that. Although personally I love that story, I can understand some wouldn't like that sort of content, and as a result I will not try it out myself.**

 **I'm not sure if you (or you two) don't like Cybertronian/human slash of ANY KIND, or just with the bipedal mode, but here's what I'll tell you:**

 **This whole story still revolves around "'tronianXOC", so there WILL be Cybertronian/OC interaction. However, it won't be anything much more than plating petting, holding, nuzzling, etc when it comes to bipedal mode. Nothing you haven't seen already! I HOPE that's okay enough for you, but if not, then that's just fine. I'm not fond of losing readers, but it's not like I will (or would want to) force you to read it. I can't change Savior for EVERYONE to enjoy and I can't change their relationship because it will screw up the entire story, so whenever you get uncomfortable, I ask that you leave, because I would HATE to offend or disturb you any more. It would be best to turn away if you no longer want to read Savior, and I will not be offended or hurt in any way, I promise. Everybody has their own personal preferences.**

 **I will say that I will join the "holoform" bandwagon, I'm not sure if that will make things better for you. But don't worry, I'm aware that some writers really overuse the holoform mechanic though and I am determined not to be one of them. I have a unique plan for my take of the holoform, but it will be a while before we get to that point. ;)**

 **Also... I MAY OR MAY NOT have a Guardian/Charge relationship in plan for Drift, but not with Aiko. ;)**

 **For a visual of Drift's future holoform, just look up the lovely Godfrey Gao, whom I am using as reference. He looks almost exactly how I envision a humanized Drift.**

* * *

"Thank you for your stay." The woman behind the counter said as Aiko turned her keycard in. Her palms felt sweaty as she passed it over, her heart was racing far faster than it should have, and her dark eyes were wide and worried. The girl managed a curt nod and the smallest of smiles before she turned away, bag slung over her shoulder. She had to leave immediately, because she awoke that morning to her worst fear.

She had looked over her balcony and Drift was not there.

It was probably –no it _was_ \- a bad idea to go looking for him, but it wasn't like Aiko had not been in city slums before. She could handle it. She just hoped and prayed that Drift either somehow got lost or perhaps he'd found more of his own kind and could not leave them just yet. Or… if he had found them, would he even bother to come back for her?

The thought made Aiko's stomach twist.

He would, wouldn't he? They had gone through so much together over the past few months, it was difficult for her to believe Drift would really abandon her. After all, he had stayed with her all this time, even when the chances of leaving her were presented to him multiple times. Would his fellow Autobots end up pulling him away from her?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

So the teenager took a sharp turn to the side of the motel, down the street she had looked upon from the balcony, and towards the back streets and alleyways. It almost disturbed her to think that she was bac on familiar ground. She was used to the environments that no one should be used to, but she was. It had been a long time since she was last in the alleys, though. Drift, interestingly, refused to address any topics towards the darker parts of cities, and he never bothered to try and take detours through them either, even if they were a quicker way to get to where they needed to go.

But now, with Drift missing inside there somewhere, Aiko began to wonder if there was a reason he never wanted to go into these parts.

For a good ten minutes, she wove through the streets and alleys, searching for any signs of Drift… or anyone else. She still clearly remembered that sporty Spania that went down these paths, and she had no doubt that it had been another Autobot. Perhaps the one that sent out the signal for Drift. In fact, there could be a few Autobots hiding down in these areas, right smack in the middle of a public place, yet in a part of the city where no one would be likely to find them. Now though, she just needed to find one of them, preferably the Autobot she'd been with this whole entire time, because she doubted any other would take to her kindly.

Aiko swerved around a corner, not at all paying attention when the girl collided with something, or rather, _someone_.

A small "oof" escaped her lips as she took a few steps back. Looking up, Aiko's stomach dropped in pure dread, eyes meeting the dark, dangerous ones of a large man. He had ragged, rough looking clothes, some stubble along his jawline, piercings on his ears and nose, and scarring on his tattooed arms. Needle scarring. The man made a confused nose, clearly as put off as she was, and snorted down at her, "The fuck? Who the hell are you?"

Aiko's mouth opened, but she had yet to find her voice. Instead, she stepped back again, eyes scanning for the quickest escape she could take. She had hoped this wouldn't happen, hoped that she'd hear any thugs ahead of time, but her luck had run out. She needed to get away and she needed to get away _now_.

The thug smirked, whistling sharply and gesturing behind him, "Hey boys! Look what I found!"

There was movement behind him, and then three other shapes emerged from the shadows of the street in the forms of three other thugs, all looking similar to the first. Aiko swallowed thickly as they looked down on her, their gazes hard and venomous. They exchanged glances, then smiled at one another before turning back to her, one of them demanding, "What've you got in that bag, girl?"

"Nothing you're gonna fucking get." She snarled, backing up, wanting to put some considerable distance between them and her. After a quick scan over them, she could see that they had no guns, maybe knives, but nothing that was going to take her down when she did a runner. But that was the problem. Had she not had the bag with her, there was a good possibility that she could have outrun them, but with it, there was no way that she could last more than a few yards.

Luckily, a few yards were all she needed.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." Another said, cracking his knuckles, "Get her!"

Aiko had made a break for it before he had said those last words, taking off down the street she had come from. Dark eyes narrowed, she glanced back. The thugs were on her tail, and were quickly catching up. The adrenaline pushed the teenager forward, adding to her sprint, until she turned a corner and latched onto a ladder on a building that she had remembered going past. The thugs shouted beneath her as she climbed, but the girl only got as far as a few steps when one of the old steps snapped. Aiko yelped, dropping down a little.

And unfortunately, she dropped down enough for one of the thugs to reach up and grab her bag, yanking her down with it.

"NO!" she yelled as they hauled her down, slamming her onto the pavement hard. She hollered and fought and squirmed in their harsh grip, gritting her teeth hard enough to hurt as they ripped her bag from her back. Two of them pulled her up, holding her arms back, restraining her from doing much more than wriggling in their grasp. It didn't stop her from spitting and hissing out swears demands to release her, however.

The first one that she had seen handed her bag to his other unoccupied companion, his hard gaze on her, "You're fast, I'll give you that."

Aiko fell silent and mustered the most hateful glare she could make up.

"But you weren't fast enough," the thug said, smirking. His hand moved like lightning, and Aiko hardly had the time to react before that hand struck her across the face, rendering her vision into nothing more than a red blur. The girl suppressed a yelp, fighting back the tears from the stinging pain, keeping her mouth firmly shut and emitting a mere whine. She kept her head faced away from the thug, until he reached down, grabbing her chin, forcing her up roughly to look at his musty face.

The man opened his mouth to speak again, but he was abruptly interrupted by loud, -almost _violently_ loud- revving. The sudden roaring made all five of them jump, and they all whipped their heads down the alley. There, a bright pair of headlights shone and with them the form of a car that was slowly rolling towards them, its powerful engine revving all the while. For a long moment, no ne moved or said anything, as they were all confused by the scene before them. Or trying to figure out how a car fit through these alleys.

Aiko perked up just slightly, knowing that there could only be one way that was the case. After a failed attempt to pry out of the thugs' grip, she squinted at the approaching vehicle. It was certainly some sort of sports car, judging by the sound of the engine.

 _Drift…?_

But as she listened, the hope died down. No, it wasn't Drift. The engine sounded different -a deeper, grittier sound than Drift's smooth revs. It was something –or rather, it was _somebody_ \- else. And Aiko was not so sure if that was particularly a good thing. The girl felt the thugs shift uncomfortably, conflicted on what to do. A few seconds passed, and finally one of them came forward and called out, "Who the hell are you?"

The car stopped.

"Get out of here!" another said, "Before we wreck your fucking car!"

Aiko had learned a lot of things from her time and experiences with Drift. She knew an Autobot when she saw one, even if she had only seen two. No nonliving car would get this far into the back alleys, nor would anyone want to drive a car into the small alleys. She learned the body language from her time with Drift –from a distance even, she could see it lean from one side to another. She knew it was either thinking or waiting, and she knew damn well that threatening an alien car was a bad idea.

In other words, the damned thugs were going to get them all killed.

And with that, the car gunned its engine and lunged forward, shooting down the alley like a bullet. It came so fast that all the thugs could do was trip over their feet, resulting in them nearly falling back. They, including Aiko, had no time to flee, causing every one of them to shrink down, bracing for an impact. But it never came.

As quickly as the car sped forward, it came to a screeching halt just a few feet away, smoke billowing from the burning rubber. With it so close, it was easy to recognize it as some sort of supercar, possessing a white paintjob with a wide blue stripe that sliced through the center of the angular hood and stretched over the hood, where it split into two parallel stripes and stretched down to the back bumper. On the sides were red and blue that combined into a checkered pattern. Aiko squinted at the car logo on the side. _Spania GTA Spano._

It was the same exact car she'd seen sneak back there the previous night.

And to the thugs' horror and to Aiko's surprise, the supercar split apart and began to reformat itself in a similar way as Drift or Mirage had. The five of them were frozen in complete amazement and probably fear as the car transformed before them, rising and shaping out into a humanoid form. The sleek white plating clamped together with whirrs and clicks, the front tires lodging beneath the white fender plating that made up the shoulders, while the back set slid down into the heels of the Transformer's feet. The hood split apart, the headlights and top halves of the fenders forming over the blue center of the hood, now the main part of a torso.

When the transformation finished, there stood a Cybertronian –an Autobot, judging by the familiar blue optics- that stood somewhere around Drift's thirty feet, maybe a few feet smaller. He was almost blinding to look at, with his pristine bright paintjob having a strong contrast against the dark and dirty alley. The Autobot stood there for a moment, as though he was waiting for a reaction, but when none of the humans did or said anything, he snorted, "Y'know, I was expecting some screaming _, at least_. You guys are a total disappointment."

The thugs snuck a look at one another, facial expressions identical to Aiko's "is he being serious?" look.

"And also, I may not be an expert on how you weird humans work," the Autobot continued, his voice young and teasing, his face plating entirely too light and happy for the situation, "but I'm pretty sure that's not how you treat a femme."

She'd heard his voice before…

"What we do with her is none of your damn business, alien!" one of them snarled, tightening his grip on her arm, earning him a hiss from the girl. "Now why don't you get the fuck away before we call the cops to exterminate pests like you."

"Gee, I'm pretty sure they're trying to exterminate pests like you, too." The Autobot replied all too smugly, placing a hand on his hip plating and circling a finger at them, "This heroine stuff is illegal, isn't it? Imagine a druggie with a pocketful of that stuff trying to warn people about an alien. You think they'll take you seriously?"

That shut the man up real quick, and Aiko saw him place a hand over a bulging pocket in his ragged jacket. But it was true; if they were to go to the authorities, all it would do is get them arrested for the substances they have on them and the clear traces of it. So with that, a free thug spoke up, noticeably more nervous about the Autobot, "All right, fine. What the hell do you want with us, then?"

"How about this," he replied, then pointed at Aiko, who was still gazing up at him, "You give me the girl, let her keep her stuff, and we've got a deal."

"A deal? The hell are you talking about? We never made a fucking deal."

"Yeah? Well we are, now."

Another thug grunted, his eyes scrutinizing and hard, evidently no longer as intimidated by the nonchalant Autobot, "Why do _you_ want her?"

"Why do you humans ask so many fragging questions?" the Autobot said exasperatedly. "Either you'll give her over or you don't… which I don't recommend doing."

"What if we don't? What's in it for us in this 'deal', huh alien?"

Blue optics suddenly darkened in hue, the seemingly teasing and upbeat Autobot going from just that to serious and almost dangerous. The smirk remained, yet it had a more sinister look as the white Autobot extended a hand and transformed his arm into what looked to be a blaster. The thugs instantly lost their prior confidence as the blaster's barrel began to glow a bright yellow-orange with charge, aimed directly at them.

"I keep the girl, you keep your lives. _Deal?_ "

The hard statement, combined with the Autobot's cold hard gaze, created a tense atmosphere. The thugs shifted, and suddenly Aiko was shoved forward, making her tumble onto her hands and knees with a sharp yelp. There was a thump beside her, and she looked over at her bag that had been safely dropped from their hands.

"Okay, okay! Take her! Fucking take her!" they all said in near unison, and with that, the lot of them almost made a comical scene of scrambling on their feet before they took off down the alley and out of sight. Left with this unfamiliar Transformer, Aiko remained on the ground, unsure what to do, before she heard a series of clicking and whirring again. It took her a moment to notice the Autobot dropping onto one knee and she finally looked up when he spoke, "You can stand up now, femme. I won't blast you, I promise."

The teenager slowly regrouped herself and hauled herself upright, until she was standing fully to look up at the silvery face plating that was back to a gentler, more teasing expression. They stared at one another for a moment until she found her voice and said, "Why did you help me?"

She wanted to know. She never saw him before, and she was relatively sure that he would not know who she was either. So why would he come forward to help a human? Drift, at least, had a reason. She helped him, but she had done nothing to benefit this Autobot. He had absolutely no reason to reveal himself and send those thugs running. But he did, and she wanted to know why.

The tri-colored Autobot shrugged carelessly, "I dunno. They were hurting you, so I chased them away. Simple as that."

"But _why_? I mean, I'm a human, and most of us want you all dead."

He tilted his head, "So you don't?"

Aiko hesitated, "Well… no. Not me, but the majority of people do. I thought Cybertronians would hate humans, you know, because most of us want you gone and there a force hunting you all down."

"Well duh," he replied, "Everybody knows that. And for the record, some Autobots hate humans more than others. Or… I _think_ so anyways. I haven't seen many of us since N.E.S.T…"

He trailed off and looked away, a flare of what looked to be sadness in his cobalt optics, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. He looked at her again with a curious gaze and regained his smug smirk as he asked, "So which one of us are you with?"

Aiko gawked, "W-what? How did you know-?"

"You called us Cybertronians," the Autobot replied, looking nearly relieved that she _did_ call them that, "Humans call us Transformers, but one who's been around us would know to call us by the proper term. So who is it?"

 _Huh… never realized that_. Aiko thought. She hadn't realized the passive influence that the samurai had on her. Of course, he influenced a lot of how she acted now, including her attitude becoming more positive since she was with him. She had calmed down quite an amount, and her swearing had gone down considerably. Funny thing was, he never really _reprimanded_ her near as much as she thought, and still she tried her best to fix her language around him simply because she didn't like disappointing him.

"I was with Drift," she answered finally, "but he got some sort of signal and went into the alleys. Said he'll come back by morning but… he didn't. And I know for a fact that he wouldn't leave me, so I was looking for him. At least… I _was_ , until those assholes attacked me. Thanks, by the way."

"No problem," the Autobot replied, then tilted his head in thought, "Drift… you mean, like, _the_ Drift? As in, that ex-Con everybody used to talk about?"

 _That_ caught her attention. Drift, according to what she'd heard from Mirage and this Autobot, was well known. Although, considering what she'd seen from him, she was not surprised. He was certainly a mystery to be gossiped about. It made her even more curious about the whole Drift and Deadlock situation. Drift even offered to tell her and the opportunity was open to her, all she had to do was tell him that she was ready to hear it. But after everything that she'd heard about Deadlock, she was stuck between wanting and not wanting to know about Drift's evidently Energon-drenched past.

"I guess that's him. There aren't any other Drifts out there, right?"

"Eh, good point. Isn't he that samurai mech? Kinda small, white armor, big pointy helm-fin thingies, slim speedster frame, huge swords strapped to his hips?"

The girl frowned in confusion, "Um… he must have done some changes, because he's definitely _not_ white and he does not have any helm-fin thingies as far as I know. He's blue and he looks… like a samurai."

The Autobot looked just as confused as she was, but he simply nodded, "Well, we won't know unless we find him, right? Good thing I saved you, I knew there was something different about you, and now that I'm closer, you literally have his scent _all_ over you."

"I _what_?" Aiko's eyes widened, and she could not suppress the urge to wrap her arms around herself at the thought of actually smelling like Drift. He was a mechanical alien, how could she have his _scent?_

The Autobot chuckled and stood up, "I'll explain as we move. Let's get out of here, this place kinda makes my armor crawl. The name's Smokescreen, by the way."

"I'm Aiko," the girl said, rolling the name around in her head while she spoke. Smokescreen nodded and gestured for her to follow before he began to walk down the alley. The sight made Aiko sputter before she ran to catch up and whispered harshly to him, "Are you insane? We can't just walk around here with you looking like that! People could see you!"

Smokescreen merely waved her off, "People already saw me, I mean, what's the point? They see me in my alt mode and most would still freak out. Besides, I always outrun those Cemetery Wind fraggers anyway. We've got nothing to worry about."

"That's not the point!" she tried to protest, cringing as the tri-colored Autobot kicked a dumpster aside, "There could be other Autobots here, and if anyone sees you, we'll never find them! You may even blow their cover if Cemetery Wind comes to investigate!"

Smokescreen sighed dramatically and twirled around to face her in a very child-like manner, further indicating that he was clearly a young, inexperienced Autobot who was way in over his head. He rolled his cobalt optics, " _Fiiine_ , whatever. I'll use my alt mode, just chill out, femme."

With that, Smokescreen knelt down and folded into his alternate mode, a sleek racecar that looked entirely out of place in the dirty alleys of the city. Somehow it was very fitting for this Autobot's young, cocky, and teasing personality. So completely different than Drift or Mirage's calm, considering and honorable personalities. It was one thing she found fascinating about the Cybertronian race; that they were not mindless killing robots, that they were living beings and like humans, they each were an independent being with their own souls, their own unique builds and body shapes, their own feelings and emotions, and their own personalities.

They were all different in their own way. Just like humans.

Sometimes she wondered why they're being hunted if such an incredible race was so similar to her own.

Or maybe that was the very reason why. Because humans don't like when something foreign is scarily similar to what they've seen.

"Hey Miko, you coming or what?"

"It's _Aiko_." She snorted, but walked forward and slipped into the clean interior of his car mode. It smelled brand new, and it was larger than both Mirage's and Drift's were. Somehow, though, she preferred the smaller space of Drift's Bugatti mode, she felt close to him that way. And although she appreciated this new Autobot who was willing to help her, she was half-afraid that she would never be able to be close to Drift again.

But Drift was strong, she knew it. They'd overcome so many things, and she'd be damned if he went down to Cemetery Wind now. He was out there somewhere, he was alive and she was going to find him…

Right?

* * *

"You two found him like this?"

"That's what he looked like when we hauled him in."

"Fragger put on one hell of a fight, too. Took us ten slaggin' minutes to get 'im to stop screamin' till he conked out. He's covered in Energon, too. He ain't about to die, right?"

"Well, no. All this Energon has been dried on his armor for a while, so if he's been critically injured, he must have healed by now. The only real injury he has right now is-"

"GAH!" Drift choked out as he came to, his optics widening a bit at the sight of three figures looming over him. His memory feedback came back, reminding him of everything the previous night, causing him to jerk up in panic. The samurai id the first instinctual thing that came to mind and lashed out, hissing at the figures all around him with a swing of his fist, which collided heavily with another metal surface. The action earned him a pained yowl as one of the figures was launched back and out of his sight.

"Fuckin' hell, mech! What the frag is your problem?!" a gravelly, accented voice hollered, spewing out more mixtures of Earth and Cybertronian vernacular swears as Drift shot upright from whatever surface he was laying on.

With his teal optics wide, Drift got a short view of his dimly lit surroundings, his vision blurry and struggling to focus, until a small shape leaned close. He was dangerously close to attacking it, too, until a light voice spoke to him over the enraged shouting in the background and a pair of small hands pressed against his shoulders, "Easy, easy. You're alright, you're okay. Listen to me, okay? I need you to vent in and out, nice and slow. Do you hear me? Good, just like that."

Drift felt himself relax slowly as he did as instructed, regulating his ventilation systems with deep and easy venting. It aided him in correctly coming online, with his internal systems starting up, his processors clearing, and his optics finally focusing to the sight of a smaller Autobot kneeling in front of him. He was blue, lighter blue than Drift was, with his light voice and the features of his silver face plating showing his youth. He seemed to have a face mask, but it retracted and his lip plating was curved in a worried frown. His optics were an electric blue, staring into Drift's teal in a silent plea to calm down.

"Listen, I'm a medic," he said, pushing just slightly harder on Drift's shoulders, urging him to lay back, "You have an injury, but I need you to stay down so I can treat it. I'll explain everything shortly, do you understand?"

"I… yes." The samurai replied in a raspy voice, shaking his head, trying to regroup and get his processor to register what the small Autobot said. However, he did not give in quite yet when the little mech applied pressure to his shoulders again. Instead, he hesitated, studying the face before him, going through his memory storage to see if he'd seen it before. When he came up with nothing, he lifted his arms to grasp the other's arms, not quite in a harsh grip, but hard enough to tell him to stop pushing. Drift tiled his helm and attempted to ask, "Who-"

"Who the frag do you think you are?!" that same voice from the background bellowed, Drift's clear vision allowing him to see the owner of it. Holding a palm to the side of his face, the tall bright green mech had his flat dentals bared, his ice blue optics flaring like blue flames. He was definitely taller than Drift, with a thick torso that shrank to a narrow waistline covered by a long, flowing trench coat. It was… interesting to see a Cybertronian use a type of human clothing for his own frame, but the use of Earth swears inferred that he must have been on Earth for some time to be influenced by human culture to that extent.

But unlike the small medic, and despite the completely different look, that voice was enough to trigger the memories of a mech Drift had seen before in his time as an Autobot.

"Cross-?" he opened his mouth to speak, but as he did so, the left side of his face exploded in a stinging pain that left him cutting himself off with a sharp gasp. An arm immediately went to touch, but the little Autobot in front of him was quick to grab his wrist and restrain him from doing so, "Don't touch it! You'll make it hurt worse if you do."

Drift tried speaking again, but now just the slightest movement of his jaw made his face plating move, therefore further agonizing the wound he unknowingly had on his face plating. It felt as though it were inside of the golden plating, between the seams, so that any movement that grinded his face plates together only increased the pain. He clamped his jaw shut in attempt to cease the pain, choosing instead to simply look at the light blue mech with a strained and confused look.

"You have something lodged in a seam between your facial plating, a human bullet from what I saw. It must have been in there for a while, because you've got a rust infection." He said, finally getting the wincing samurai to lay back. In the corner of his optic, Drift could see the gleam of his duel katana off to the side, leaning against a wall peacefully. Probably removed so that he could be laid down comfortably. Somehow, it made him more comfortable knowing that they were simply put aside instead of hidden away. It showed that these mechs trusted him, even with his weapons nearby and in clear view.

"And _you_ ," the, medic whirled around to point accusingly at the green mech, one hand still pressed to Drift's chest in case he decided to try and get up again, "Get out. You've caused enough trouble already."

"He fraggin' punched me!"

"That was your own fault. You should know to keep your distance from injured mechs coming online. Now go, at _least_ be productive and go check on Sideswipe for me."

"But-"

The little Autobot raised his voice just a bit, " _Now_."

The much larger mech glared at him for a moment, before finally giving in. With a huff, he stormed off, mumbling under his breath and ducking beneath a doorway, vanishing into another part of the building they were in. Speaking of which, Drift moved his head around to inspect his surroundings. It was quite a spacious place, with shelves of human boxes and tools, some spread over the concrete floor, and some car lifts. With a quick search of the internet, he determined it to be some old car repair shop, evidently no longer being used.

Drift's optics landed on a third mech standing a little ways behind the medic, but before he could get a good look, the light blue Autobot grabbed the edges of his samurai helm to force him to look straight up, "Stop moving, please. I know you're curious about everything, but before anything else, I need to get that bullet out. You won't be able to do much talking until I do."

He nodded slowly, deciding that he'd very much prefer to be able to speak without his face bursting in pain. Minutes passed with nothing happening other than the small mech examining the infected would with a flashlight on his wrist and pulling out a couple of tools from his subspace. "Yeah, it's _really_ infected. Your self-repair tried healing over the bullet with Energon clogged in there. Caused a lot of rust to form that needs to be cleaned out of that seam. I'm surprised it hasn't bothered you sooner."

Drift's lip plating twitched, internally cringing at the thought. That would explain why it was so tender and painful to the touch. It was a common occurrence during the war, when injured mechs had no access to a medic and Energon that dried inside the open wound got infected and turned into a Cybertronian rust that could spread beneath into the protoform and cause many problems. Although Drift himself never had it happen until now, he heard it was not at all a fun thing to have treated.

Finally, the medic picked up a long tool with a hooked end, and Drift could not help but stare at it with apprehension, wondering what exactly that was going to be used for. Seeing his expression, the mech sighed, "Unfortunately, this _is_ going to hurt. I'm going to pry the seam open so I can pull it out. Just bear with me, okay?"

The samurai nodded, and allowed his head to be turned to the side with his wound more exposed. The medic was courteous enough to ask him if he was ready and wait for a confirming nod before he proceeded. At first, Drift felt nothing, but then the hooked tool was inserted into the seam and pulled down, prying the tender face plates apart, causing an excruciating pain that was nearly unbearable. He could tell that the medic was trying to hurry, to make the procedure as quick as possible, but even a few seconds of endurance was enough for Drift to growl through his clenched dentals.

His fingers extended beyond his control and he tried bracing himself against the floor, to prevent himself from lashing out and slicing the medic to shreds for only trying to help him, and his dagger-like claws tore at the concrete, the hard surface still not solid enough to prevent him gouging a series of long white marks. The pain was driving him insane, numbing him from feeling anything else.

"Grrrrn… _Frag!_ Dammit, it slagging hurts like _hell!"_ he snarled out, not even caring that there was more than a little leaked Deadlock behavior that was shown with the swearing that contradicted himself and his beliefs. Or that the Earth swears he'd blurted out indicated that Aiko has influenced him more than what he would have liked.

"Got it." the medic mumbled, and suddenly the pain lessened as he pulled back. Drift turned his head back upright as the hooked tool withdrew, and within a thin pair of tweezers in his other hand, was a tiny bullet, both it and the tips of the tool dripping with green, infected Energon. Probably the smallest human object he'd ever seen. The samurai narrowed his optics, staring at the small bullet and realizing with a lurching tank where it had come from. The small mech looked at it for a moment, and then quirked his mouth and disposed of it with a flick of the tool.

"Funny how something so small could cause so much trouble." He sighed, "Just like the humans who created it…"

Drift decided not to comment on that statement. The amount of truth in it upset him more than he would like to admit. Aiko was even an example. She was small, but she'd done some things, especially at the construction site, that made him want to rip his own armor off from time to time.

But somehow, that was why he was so fond of her.

"I… I never did catch who you are." Drift said as he sat up again.

"Oh, right! My apologies, my designation is Jolt." He said kindly, giving a small, polite smile, "I'm no CMO, but I'm trained enough to know the basics."

Drift extended a hand, and Jolt took it in a firm shake, "You are trained well, then. I am Drift, and I thank you for helping me."

"Oh… well… thanks. I uh… I had a good teacher." Jolt's smile faltered slightly, "Wait… _you're_ Drift? I-I mean, not that I have a problem or anything, just that you look nothing like what everybody used to describe you as."

"I changed." Was all Drift said in a tone that _clearly_ indicated he was deciding to change the subject. He knew that look on Jolt's face; he'd seen it millions of times on many other Autobots who looked at him. He saw it on Mirage, even Optimus Prime. The look of realization, of suppressed unease, and sometimes, of fear. It was the look he received when a mech thought of him as the insane killer he once was, and all the gruesome crimes he'd performed in the past.

He was used to it by now, but he still hated it with a passion.

Because not a single Autobot, or anyone at all for that matter, looked him for the first time and saw him for who he is and not who he was.

Except for Aiko.

She didn't know anything about Deadlock initially, but just like when he was in the Autobot army, he was still something bad, something out of place in his surroundings, something that did not belong, something not to be trusted. But unlike the other Autobots, she did not judge him as a stupid alien robot like the rest of her race. She saw him as an equal, even as a car. She knew what he was and still she talked to him, touched him, and looked at him like an equal.

And if he remembered right, he was supposed to pick her up from that motel he left her at.

"Listen, I appreciate your help, but I need to leave." Drift said, trying to get up. Jolt's electric optics brightened in surprise and he placed his hands on Drift's chest plating, "Ooooh no, didn't you hear me? I need to clean the rust out of that seam, or else it'll get into the protoform of your face. And you _do not_ want that to happen, trust me. It can lead to Cosmic Rust. _Please_ tell me you know what that is."

Oh, Drift knew _exactly_ what Cosmic Rust was. In fact, Deadlock used to have a gun that inflicted the lethal infection onto its victims. And it used to be his absolute favorite gun to use so he that could watch Autobots scream as they disintegrated into nothing.

"I know what it is." He said, scrambling through his processors for a plausible reason why Jolt should let him go, "But I need to go-"

"You're not goin' anywhere just yet." A new voice said. The suddenness of it halted the two mechs from fighting against each other's grip and they looked back behind Jolt with wide optics. Drift –and Jolt too, apparently- had forgotten about the third mech who had been standing there for a good amount of time since Drift came online. It was a new voice, but it was also one that Drift recognized. He perked up slightly as the large mech came forward.

He was also larger than Drift… in both ways. He was certainly not much of an aerodynamic mech, with a heavy midsection and burly limbs. A bunch of wires and internal parts that would make up an Earth vehicle dangled around is face in a "beard", as human males called it, much longer and thicker than the little tuft of wires on Drift's chin. His armor –well, what was visible of it, considering most of it was hidden beneath layers of weapons and ammo- was a dark, military green, and in his mouth was a cy-gar. Interesting that such a thing still existed off of Cybertron, considering cy-gars were hardly used anymore ever since the war.

But Drift had been an Autobot long enough to know the one Wrecker who still used to use them.

"Hound," he said, as Jolt finally let him stand up, sincerely surprised at seeing the commando still alive and kicking. Though, knowing him, it wasn't too surprising. Hound never went down without putting on one Pit of a fight, that was for sure. "It is good to see you alive and well."

"Same to you, samurai." Hound replied.

Drift nearly grimaced. He doubted the commando really meant it. None of the Autobots really liked having him around, and he doubted they still would.

"I see you've changed up your look," he went on gesturing at Drift's smaller form. He looked down at himself, curling his lip plating slightly at the sight of the dried Energon that began to peel off of his deep blue armor. "Not white anymore, eh? Kinda see why, though. Energon don't blend well with white. And what happened to those thingies you had on your head?"

"My finials?" he corrected, though he rubbed the side of his helm, right where a said ornate fin used to be. They used to be the most defining parts of him once upon a time, and Drift would be lying if he said he did not miss them sometimes, "Removed them. Went for a different look, as you can see. I… did not have much of a choice with the alternate mode I chose. It did not support my previous shape."

"Oh, I see. Well, I think you still look good. Might take some gettin' used to, though…" the big mech trailed off and stared at Drift for a moment before he lifted a hand and tapped the side of his face, "Uh… you got a little drippin'…"

The samurai frowned in confusion for a second before he caught on and wiped his face plating with the back of his hand, looking down to see a smear of sickly green Energon. His wrist was suddenly snatched and Jolt came forward, presenting his own hand to him, "You see? This is exactly why you can't just leave, Drift. If it's so urgent, at least let me clean the seam so it doesn't get worse, more so than it already is. Please, can you wait for just a bit?"

He wanted to say no, but Drift was well aware that, with Hound also objecting to his walking out, he had no choice. He let out a sharp sigh, signaling his surrender, and Jolt gave an affirmative nod and lead Drift to a car lift that was half-risen, "Sit on that for me."

He stared at the rickety mechanism hesitantly and the little medic chuckled, "Trust me, it'll hold. If it can support Hound's big aft, it can support you. Just sit."

Hound gave an offended snort, and Drift could not help but smile just slightly as Jolt pressed on his abdomen until he sat. The lift creaked, unhappy with the weight of Cybertronian metal that was heavier than most vehicles on Earth, but like Jolt said, it held up. As the small mech began to loom over some tools, Drift decided to get rid of the silence by asking, "Is it just the three of you?"

"There are five of us, actually." He said rather bluntly.

Drift's head snapped back in surprise, " _Five?_ "

"Six, includin' you." Hound said, examining a big gun he had pulled out, "There's me, Jolt, and the fragger you sucker punched would be-"

"Crosshairs, I remember him," he said with a nod, earning him a sour look from Jolt when he was trying to look through the facial seam, "I see that he… went green."

"Surprising, ain't it?" Hound chuckled, pulling out his cy-gar briefly, "Guess he was tired of bein' confused for Optimus."

"And he's probably got a nice dent in his face for me to buff out, thanks to you…" Jolt grumbled, "But anyway, there's me, Hound, Crosshairs, and-"

"Hey, who's this new mech Crosshairs told me about?!"

A bright yellow mech came ducking through the doorway, but he only got as far as a foot before he tripped over himself and fell over in a tumble of golden armor and swears. A moment later, Crosshairs appeared behind him, walking at a much more mild pace than the mech on the floor in front of him, "Nice entrance, you idiot."

"Shut the frag up!" the golden mech growled as he regained himself, standing at full height of maybe a few feet shorter than Drift. His armor was sharp and so bright and shiny that Drift was legitimately surprised that he survived for this long. He had an angular face and upon his feet were wheels. Drift didn't fail to notice Hound and Jolt sigh heavily as the commando finished, -and we have the Terror Twins."

Jolt turned around and looked disapprovingly at Crosshairs, "Do you not know how to follow directions?"

"What?" the tall mech said, "I checked on Sides, like you asked! He's… hangin' in there. He's still hurtin' real bad though…"

"Yes, I asked you to check on him and come back to me, not to bring his crazy brother with you." The little medic said in exasperation. He turned back to Drift, who looked a little bewildered at everything going on around him. Jolt frowned an explained quietly, "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker's brother, had been attacked by those Cemetery Wind humans. I'm trying my best but… things aren't looking so good for him."

Drift nodded in understanding, looking back to the other three mechs who got into a bickering before he asked quietly, "What is wrong with him?"

"It's very interesting, really," Jolt said, using a different tool as he began to clear out the rust in Drift's facial seam, "Humans have missiles, I know that, but Sideswipe was hit by something different than what I know Cemetery Wind has. It blasted his T-Cog right out; from behind, too. That's a tactical move if I ever seen one. And it's not human, it… it's _Cybertronian_ , if anything. And it disturbs me, quite honestly."

Drift was about to state his own experience when Sunstreaker, one of the two twins Drift was indeed familiar with, came forward, "So who the frag are you?"

"Don't remember me?" he replied, lip plating twitching slightly. Did he really look that different?

"Wait a fraggin' second…" Crosshairs said, and Sunstreaker moved aside, letting Drift have a clear view of the green mech holding one of his long swords, "There's only one mech I know of who uses these big ass things."

"Oh," Sunstreaker said, his gaze suddenly scrutinizing as he looked over the samurai again, "You're the ex-Con."

Drift actually winced at the hard tone, even though he normally never used to care when he was called that, "Well… yes, to put it bluntly."

"So Drift, right?" Crosshairs said, reading Drift's unhappy look and putting the katana down beside the other, "Frag mech, ya changed a lot."

"I could say the same to you."

Crosshairs grunted and nodded towards Sunstreaker, who unlike everyone else, was unafraid to show his unhappiness at the "ex-Con" joining their little party, "It was that fragger's idea."

Drift shook his head, ignoring Sunstreaker's glaring, and turned to Jolt, "When you finish, _then_ will you let me go?"

"What? Why would you _want_ to go?" Crosshairs interrupted.

"I… was with someone." Drift said, trying to weave his way around saying the word _human_. "And I need to get back to them before they start to worry."

The four of them exchanged glances before Jolt sighed, "Alright, fine. But _only_ when I'm done. And promise that you'll come back. Bring them too, if you must."

Sunstreaker made a disgusted sound and he rolled off.

"I promise you all that I will return." Drift nodded affirmatively. "I just need to check in with them and show them that I certainly did not get killed overnight."

"No, but you were screechin' like you _were_ getting murdered…" he heard Hound mumble, but he chose not to address the comment. Jolt stared at him for a long time before he nodded and turned back to wave away the two onlookers, "Good. Now why don't the two of you go after Sunstreaker and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid again. I work better alone."

Hound and Crosshairs looked at each other before they nodded and went off to the far side of the building to where the golden twin left. Crosshairs, surprisingly, halted and nodded at Drift, "Good to see ya still around, samurai. We need all the bots we can get."

With that, the green mech turned away and followed Hound, leaving a surprised Drift with the little medic. Jolt pulled at his helm to direct his face forwards so he could continue to remove the rust. "Crosshairs is right. Sorry about Sunstreaker, he doesn't seem to know what manners are, but I think he'll warm up to you after a while."

"I doubt it." Drift said, "But I am used to that."

Jolt smiled sadly, "I could imagine. But it doesn't matter who you are anymore. Not to me. _Everyone_ is in danger, and we all need to stick together now."

Drift hummed in agreement, "We all must work together. We are the only ones left."

The light blue mech grimaced, "I wouldn't call us that."

"Then what would you consider us?"

"Something a little more positive, something that makes us look _strong_ instead of weak," Jolt said, "We're not the only ones left. We're the survivors."

* * *

 **Is that a neat statement to end with or what? I bet NONE of you thought I would throw Jolt into the mix, huh? Poor guy, he doesn't get enough attention. Don't worry, Jolt! I remember you! The Wiki says that he's mischievous but... that's not really how I imagine him. So I kinda made my own version of Jolt, and I hope you guys like him. We went from just two Autobots in the entire story right up to eight in one chapter! Holy crap! But only three in this group shall make it to the movie...**

 **Oh, and remember when I said I had plans for Sideswipe? Yeah... it all goes down next chapter... ;)**

 **I made a bunch of G1 Autobot design references, too. That was fun. And if you reeeally squint, you'll see a TF Prime reference, too. :3**

 **We also went from 16 reviews for one chapter up to 18! That's awesome, guys. I noticed that I've gained quite a few followers too, so for my newer readers, DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON MY POLL! Some of my choices are tied, so I need some more voters to break it for me! Please and thank you! :)**

 **I've also been asked about fanart. That's totally fine, guys! If you want to do some art for Savior, you're more then welcome. I only ask that I and my story are credited for the inspiration.**

 **Don't forget to drop a review, PLEASE! Let me know what you though of seeing SO MANY Autobots! I know I was happy to write about them. I'm hoping for an update every other weekend at the moment, just to get myself worked up to a schedule again. See you guys soon! :D**


	17. Road To Freedom

***Says she's going to update every other week, doesn't update for three***

 **Welp, good job me. I have just gotten back into school, and catching up has proven just a little more difficult than expected. But I've finally been able to get everything done, so NOW updates should be properly every other weekend. If not, then PLEASE yell at me as much as you guys want and I shall pump that overdue chapter out like I'm supposed to, unless life decides to toss some other situation in my face!**

 **I don't want to apologize for the lack of updates because I feel that it doesn't mean much as just words to read. So since actions speak better than words, here's a nice long chapter to try and make up for it! :D**

 **Also, I LIED. This chapter just took of turn on its own, so everyone can calm down, now! Remember what I said about everything going down next chapter? Weeell, turns out that I drew everything out just a bit more than what I had originally planned, so this chapter is actually very slow and nothing much happens. Well, something DOES happen, but nothing that's going to make everyone want to strangle me just yet.**

 **In other words, the plot bunnies have captured me again and have decided to change some of my original plans. So you guys are lucky. ;P**

 **I decided to slow everything down, because really, A LOT of stuff's been happening nonstop, and I don't want the action and surprise to get repetitive. One thing I want to make sure of is that I keep a balance with this story. Too much angst and/or action can get a little tedious to read, so it's time to take a step back and let everyone breathe. This chapter is mostly just talking, but productive talking. Some stuff gets explained so not only Drift, but my readers also get a better understanding of what's been going on. :)**

 **Whoopsies. Well, would you look at that... looks like I couldn't help but to slip one TINY surprise in. ;)**

* * *

"So… you're trying to tell me that I smell like Drift, even though it's not actually a scent?"

Aiko said skeptically, crossing her arms and sinking into the seat. Smokescreen laughed, taking an unnecessary sharp turn into another street. The young Autobot was a wild ride, to say the least. She wondered how he survived for this long without caring in the least about driving laws. Or without even knowing what driving laws are. Either way, Aiko was certainly _not_ prepared for Smokescreen's reckless driving through the streets.

 _"It's kinda hard to explain to you humans,"_ he said through his radio, _"We don't actually "smell", because our ventilation systems are only supposed to… you know, help us breathe. We sense through our electromagnetic fields, so we can feel the presence and emotions of bots around us through the amount and intensity of charges that they radiate. I can sense the charges, or the presence of Drift around you. It's real strong too, so I'm guessing that you've been around the mech for a while. It's like he unintentionally marked you, which is actually pretty fragging funny."_

"Marked me…?" Aiko said slowly, "What does that mean exactly?"

Smokescreen made a noise that sounded suspiciously like he was trying to withhold laughter, _"Well… marking is something that Cybertronian mates do to claim each other. Basically, being marked means that you belong to your significant other, so other Cybertronians sense your mate's mark on you and know to stand back if they happened to be interested in you. It's something that most couples did before choosing to bond their Sparks. To put in human terms, it's like you guys becoming 'girlfriend and boyfriend' before you get married."_

Aiko was… admittedly not sure what to make of that information. She was unsure if she should feel uncomfortable for technically being classified as being Drift's "mate", or comforted by the fact that having his "scent", so to speak, could help her from being killed by Autobots who aren't as friendly towards humans as the Autobots she'd already met. She supposed that the marking mechanic made sense, knowing that as similar as their races were, there were still many cultural and physical differences between them.

Deciding to voice her thoughts, Aiko asked carefully and rather uncomfortably, "Sooo… if this is a Cybertronian thing, how exactly did Drift cross species and mark _me?_ "

 _"Now that I think about it, it's probably easier to mark a human. I've been on this planet long enough to know that human skin carries scents and presence energy a lot better than Cybertronian metal. We have to expose our Sparks to each other frequently to keep the mark on one another, but all Drift had to do was expose his to you once or twice and the mark will stay on you for over twice as long. At least I THINK so. I'm not an expert at this relationship stuff, I'm just making assumptions. I mean… you have see his Spark… right?"_

Aiko frowned and retraced through the time she'd had with the samurai. The girl tensed slightly and she nodded, "Yeah… twice. The first time was when I first met him. I remember trying to repair him while he was a car, and I looked inside of his engine and found it. He panicked and I only saw it for a few seconds. The second time though, he actually _wanted_ to show me…"

But there was no way she was going to speak about that moment. It was during the short amount of time the two of them were with Mirage in his final days, and so going back into that time only upset Aiko more than she would like to admit. She knew that the night Drift had shown her his Spark was possibly his attempt to take their minds away from Mirage at the time. But she could not help but associate any memory with the red Autobot while he was injured with utter anguish.

The teenager grunted as Smokescreen whipped to the right down another street, tearing her away from her musings. He seemed to sense it when she trailed off, and so he did not ask about that moment and instead went on. _"That'll do it. If you got to his raw Spark, then yeah, the radiation from it could stick to you."_

Aiko simply nodded, and a short silence followed until she huffed and asked reluctantly, "So I'm guessing this considers me Drift… mate?"

This time, Smokescreen did not even bother to withhold his laughter. Maybe at her question, maybe at her uneasiness, or possibly both judging by his teasing personality. Either way, the girl was not at all enthused by his reaction. She hit her palm against the wheel and the young Autobot finally stopped, _"Well, yeah, technically. I've never heard of a human and a bot being a thing, but hey, I've seen crazier stuff lately. I'm not one to judge, either."_

Aiko rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure that's not-"

Smokescreen cut her off, continuing with mirth as his voice lowered dramatically in a very mischievous teen-like way, _"Who knows? Maybe Drift marked you on purpose. Maybe he's into human femmes. I wouldn't put it past him, honestly. He was always kind of a weird mech-"_

"Can you _not?_ " she growled, trying to ignore the heat rising on her face. They had only been together for a couple of hours and already she was done this this Autobot's teasing. She was one more joke away from jumping out and walking off. Although deep down, she knew that she wouldn't actually do such a thing, knowing that he was really her only protection and her only effective way of finding Drift.

And Smokescreen knew it as well, which was why he could not help but to poke at her one last time with a chuckle, _"I'm just saying. I mean, from the few times I've seen him, he's definitely not ugly like most Decepticons. Frag, I kinda envy his good looks, too. I bet he was real smooth with the 'Con femmes back then-"_

"Smokescreen."

 _"Okay fine, I'll quit. The mech's probably more in love with his swords than anything."_ He said, _"Like I_ _said, he was always kinda weird to me. What mech doesn't use blasters or some sort of gun? It's not exactly easy to get up close and personal with enemies that have a long-range advantage."_

 _Mirage didn't have long-range weapons_ , she almost said, but chose not to say it out loud. She really didn't want to have to explain how she knew the red Autobot and why he was not with her and Drift anymore. She had only known him for about a month, but Mirage was still very much a sensitive subject for her… and Drift. Even though he had never voiced it, she knew that the samurai had been blaming himself for being unable to save the Autobot who sacrificed himself to save her.

Instead, Aiko heaved a sigh and said quietly, "I wouldn't call him weird, he's just… different."

 _"He's an ex-Con. Of course he's different."_ Smokescreen said as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe, _"Don't mean to sound harsh or anything, but that's the truth about the mech. He can share our optics and our badges, but he'll never be just like the rest of us."_

How much had Drift done for his image to be that plagued? For his own comrades to slap such a discrimination against him as the outsider who will never fit in?

She understood to some extent why Drift would be the odd one out. He was strictly melee while most Autobots had at least one long-rage weapon. He was a little solitary while most Autobots seek teamwork and cooperation. He had physical traits that set him apart, like those ungodly fangs and retractable claws that she knew no Autobots would have. And when he was angry enough or driven right up to his breaking point, he could rip any Cybertronian to literal shreds. All traits that an Autobot most likely wouldn't possess… but all traits a Decepticon most likely _would_. Aiko shifted in the seat slightly as her head was filled with more questions.

 _He'll never be just like the rest of them._

The girl found herself wondering… how true was that statement?

 _WHAM!_

Without any warning, Smokescreen came to an abrupt, screeching halt, resulting in the girl's face to plummet into the steering wheel. She yelped and snapped back, holding her nose tight and bellowing at the young Autobot angrily, "What the hell?! You trying to break my damn nose?"

 _"Oh… heh, sorry. Probably should've warned you first."_ He said.

Aiko grunted, checking her hands for any blood and fortunately finding none, "You think? What's the hold up, anyways?"

Smokescreen opened his door, _"You may want to check this out."_

The teenager frowned, but complied and climbed out of him. She stood at his side and looked around, seeing nothing but a nearby dumpster and the plain alley they were in. After a minute or two of searching for anything unusual, she snorted and took a few steps forward, "What exactly am I checking out?"

Smokescreen gave an indignant rev that could have resembled a snort of his own in bipedal form, and he rolled up behind her, _"How about you look down."_

"What are you talking about? There's nothing…" Aiko started to protest, but it died as her eyes fell downward onto the pavement. Her eyes widened and she approached her discovery, "…there…"

On the ground before them were a set of long, black tire marks. Judging by the width between them, it was most certainly a car. It looked as though the car had suddenly slammed on the gas and took off down the alley. Which would have not been so surprising, except that these particular alleys were barely wide enough for a car to fit through. Smokescreen nearly clipped a corner every time they turned out of a street and navigated through the smaller spaces.

Aiko knelt down in front of a black streak and stared at it long and hard. Meanwhile, she heard the tri-colored Autobot behind her transform and his shadow loomed over her as he came closer to inspect the tire tracks himself. It never crossed either of their minds in that moment to stay low, though no one would normally be in the back streets in broad daylight, where police could catch people. Smokescreen made a curious hum and tilted his head, "Do you think…?"

"It has to be." She said quietly, "No human being would try to drive down these ways."

"Well if this was Drift, either he got caught or something scared the living scrap out of him. You see how dark those tracks are? He _gunned_ it." The young Autobot said, pointing at the tracks and lifting the finger upward to the alley ahead, "They went that way."

"They?" Aiko raised an eyebrow, sneaking a look up at him while they began to follow the marks, "Do you know if there's other Autobots here?"

Smokescreen remained quiet for a moment, as if he was contemplating whether or not to answer, and then he finally spoke, "Quick question… did Drift get a transmission some time ago?"

"Yeah, while we were flying from a factory we were hiding at," she said, though the girl frowned upon other memories she'd gotten from the factory. She thought back to that transmission that came so suddenly, the static so thick that they could hardly hear the Autobot on the other side. Aiko paused, then gave a sharp gasp, "That was you, wasn't it?"

The tri-colored mech gave a small smirk, "Yeah. I could barely hear a thing Drift was saying, the connection was so distant. But before him, I got in contact with someone else. Couldn't hear them either, but I got their location, which was right here. Not sure if they're still around, but hey, it's a start."

"This frequency link you guys use sounds pretty shitty."

"Actually, it's not, but no one uses it because we know that we can be tracked if we send messages." Smokescreen explained, and Aiko nodded with the memories of her and Drift's own experience with false lures through the link. The young mech went on, "It was bad because of my location."

"You were in Monument Valley… right? That's where you said you were when you got in touch with Drift."

"Yeah, to use a human term, I was trying to kill two birds with one stone." He said, and when Aiko looked at him with confusion, he went on, "Don't get it? There's little to no reception in Monument Valley, so I was trying to tell Drift to go there, and at the same time, I came here to get the other Autobot, if they're still here, too-"

"-So Cemetery Wind can't find you guys." the girl finished with realization, "That place is basically a safe haven! No reception, no way to track Autobots down."

Smokescreen smirked and his doorwings twitched upwards, "Exactly. As long as they don't actually go there and use Energon detectors, it's a place that almost guarantees survival. I've been there for a good two years with a comrade and we've had no problems. Now, we're trying to get other surviving 'Bots there, too."

"Right…" Aiko murmured, eyeing the tire tracks as they swerved around a corner, "But first, we need to find them."

She stopped at the corner, reaching out to touch the missing bricks of the wall, undoubtly clipped by the Autobot when they swerved the corner. Was it Drift? If so… why was he running? What was he running from? As she studied the damage, Smokescreen stood in the corner and looked ahead, checking, before kneeling down to take a look himself, "Looks like they were in a real rush… wonder why though…"

"We should get going," the teenager stated, growing uneasy with Smokescreen being so exposed for an extended amount of time. He seemed to know, too, and the tri-colored mech simply nodded and stood up.

Smokescreen placed one hand on his hip and gestured the other to the alley around the corner, "Well, looks like we're heading this wa-WHAAAAH!"

The next moment was but a large blur, causing Aiko to yelp and fall back as Smokescreen was launched into the wall hard enough for some bricks and rubble to fall loose. Her arm flew to her face to avoid getting hit with any flying bricks as the young Autobot writhed against the wall, making strangled noises. Scrambling back, Aiko lowered her hand and her mouth flew open at the scene before her. Through the debris clearing out, she made out another figure… a very familiar figure.

There, with scratched, marred blue armor, Drift snarled savagely with a hand clamped tight around Smokescreen's neck, the other struggling for control as the smaller mech fought against him. He looked nearly mad out of his mind; his teal optics were narrowed to slits, claws extended fully, lip plating curled back to reveal his gleaming fangs as he overtook Smokescreen with the upmost ease. The younger Autobot whined in distress when he was lifted right off of his feet, dangling a foot or two in the air by the samurai's death grip alone, forcing them to meet optic to optic.

With a burst of strength, Smokescreen landed a hard kick to the abdomen, loosening Drift's grip. He got as far as pushing himself off of the wall until the larger Autobot regained his control and simply grabbed his opponent by the shoulders, slamming him onto the hard ground. Drift's movements were lightning fast, and within seconds he had a foot on Smokescreen's chest, using his superior weight to keep him down, one hand back on his throat and the other holding a katana, raised and ready to cleave through the tri-colored mech's head.

 _"STOP!"_

The word flew from both Smokescreen and Aiko, both utterly horrified. The girl flung herself forward with her arms out, successfully halting the samurai's instantaneous and completely unforeseen attack before he went for a killing blow. She waved her hands frantically while Smokescreen continued to plead nonsense, his words too garbled and panicked to fully understand. Drift's optics flew wide and his vicious snarl vanished the moment his gaze landed upon Aiko.

But it was not just anger that faded, rather a mix of emotions that seemed to fuel his initial attack. She could see the anger, but there was also concern, anxiety, apprehension…

Fear.

All of Drift's emotions at that moment all mixed together into one frantic burst of panic. And if Aiko knew anything, it was that when Drift lost control of his emotions, he got dangerous. _Very_ dangerous. It was still baffling to see such a calm, collected samurai switch into such a powerful, feral beast in the spur of a moment. He could fight honorably with swords, yet at the same time, as Aiko had just witnessed, he was perfectly capable of dropping the formalities and throwing his opponents to the ground in the span of five seconds.

But he only ever did such a thing when he felt it was necessary.

And that was when she realized… _He attacked because he was afraid for me. He thought I was in danger, so he panicked and attacked…_

"Drift," She said, keeping her voice gentle in attempt to calm his crazed state, "Let him go."

"Yes please…!" Smokescreen choked out.

Drift's harsh venting died down, his plating still bristled out, giving him the image of a _very_ deadly, _very_ intimidating predator. The samurai looked down at Smokescreen for a moment before looking back up to Aiko. His voice was a whole frightening octave lower, rough and growling as he asked, "Has he harmed you?"

That was the voice of Deadlock and Aiko knew it. Which piqued her interest.

Drift attacked because he was worried for her, but apparently, Deadlock did, too. Because if Drift's Decepticon side came crawling out once again and took him over the same way it had back at the factory, Smokescreen would have been dead within the first twenty seconds of Drift's impetuous attack.

So even the Decepticon deep inside was beginning to care about her.

And for some reason, it was more terrifying to know that the Decepticon prowling just under Drift's self-control was not focused on harming her, but rather the life that was in her hands at that instant. She was in control of the beast. Even though she would never say it, Aiko realized with a sickening disturbance that she could say yes and Smokescreen would be nothing more than a great big pile of white, red, and blue scrap metal with his internals flung everywhere and his Energon splashed against the walls of the alley.

They both were there staring at her. Drift was on the outside, hoping that she said no so that the Decepticon within him would not have to take over again. Deadlock was inside, hoping for the affirmative so that he could satisfy his urge to _kill, kill, kill!_

"I didn't… do anything… ack!" the tri-colored mech tried to say as he writhed beneath the larger Autobot, but one deep growl from Drift shut him up quickly and he flinched away from those large fangs. He wisely chose to stay quiet as Drift looked up again and repeated his question, but this time, his expression was that of worry and concern, evidence that he was able to shove Deadlock down just slightly, "Aiko… has he harmed you?"

"No, no!" she quickly answered, "Drift, he never hurt me! He was helping me… you didn't show up at the motel and I kinda panicked, but he found me and wanted to help find you. I promise, he hasn't hurt me at all. Just let him go. Please."

And just like that, the evil gleam in his teal optics disappeared, and Deadlock was forced back inside the depths of Drift's Spark, where he would only wait for another opportunity to come raging out.

As if he'd been holding his breath the entire time, Drift vented out deeply. He took another look at the smaller mech below him, who gave a big, stupid and nervous grin. The samurai stared for a little while longer before finally moving, making Smokescreen squeal a bit too femininely when he drove his sword into the ground mere inches from his head, using it to pull up and extricate himself from Smokescreen. As Drift dismissed him and simply stepped over, the younger mech scrambled to his feet, feeling himself over as though he could not believe he was still alive.

"Frag…" he whined as he twisted himself to look at his backside, "I can't feel my doorwings…"

 _"Aiko…"_ Drift's voice was faint and he was quick to sheath his weapon and swipe her right from the ground before she could make a move. She squeaked, but did not fight or resist as the deep blue mech sighed in evident relief and held her close. Aiko stood in his palm, half surprised when he brought her up to his face and cradled her the same way he had once before, like she was the most precious thing in the universe to him. She hesitated only briefly, then accepted his proximity and rested her forehead to the bridge of his nasal plates. She pressed one hand on the side of his face and had the other stroking along his jawline just as she had done before.

If Drift did this, then it meant he was in distress and was desperately seeking for comfort.

"Hey…" she whispered, grasping his jaw and holding his head up, making him open his optics and look at her, "You all right?"

The samurai took a deep breath, as if to regroup himself, and whispered back with a small, rare smile, "I am now."

"What happened?" the girl asked.

Drift hesitated, and his gaze grew wary as it drifted past her and down the alley, "I had an unpleasant night."

"I hate to break up the nice moment, but I think it's best if we take this elsewhere."

Reluctantly, Drift lowered the teenager in his hands and turned around, his piercing teal optics meeting Smokescreen's cobalt blue. The tri-colored mech held up his hands, like he was expecting Drift to lunge at him again just for breaking the moment, "Just saying. Could you imagine if a human came down here right about now?"

"He's right." Aiko said, looking up at the samurai she had thankfully reunited with. "We can't stay here."

"We don't have to." Drift said, looking behind him, like he was expecting someone or something to attack him at any moment, "I know a place where we can take refuge. This way."

Smokescreen looked at Drift as though he was fully convinced that the samurai would take him into a corner and actually murder him. Aiko could not bring herself to blame him; she'd be distrustful of someone who was moments away from killing her, too. In fact, she _was_ , when Drift broke under the stress and the pressure after what had happened to Mirage. She was still shaken up over the incident, and she was not so sure if she'd ever fully get over it.

Judging by that look on Smokescreen's face, she doubted he would either.

So Drift sighed, his hands curling around Aiko a little more as he said shamefully, his voice so much more gentle than it had been just prior, "I apologize for the-ah… unexpected assault. It was not my intent to… act so violently-"

"Not your intent?" Smokescreen's optic twitched, "Not your _INTENT?!_ Are you fragging _INSANE?!_ You almost _KILLED ME!_ I thought I was going to _DIE!_ I saw my whole fragging life flash before me!"

"No, no, no!" Drift tried to interrupt, his voice hushed. The older mech looked around them worryingly before turning back to the panicking tri-colored mech, an arm raised in attempt to quell his shouting, "Hush! Be _quiet_ -!"

"NO, I will _NOT_ be quiet!" Smokescreen hollered even louder, "I almost fragging _DIED_ -!"

Both Aiko and Drift flinched as the younger Autobot's voice gradually got louder. As he continued to yell in his shock, the samurai bent down in a silent sign for Aiko to get off, so the girl quickly slid out of his palm and stood back. Drift grit his dentals together while he listened to the smaller mech's tirade. With one smooth movement, he rushed forward and grabbed Smokescreen, pressing him against the wall once again and slapping a hand over his mouth to silence him.

The younger mech squirmed under his grip, but he seemed too shocked to put any real effort into trying to get away. Drift stared down at Smokescreen and simply pressed a finger to his pursed lip plating, sneaking a look to either side of them, cautious for any attention that could have been drawn by the smaller mech's outburst. The samurai returned his gaze to Smokescreen and put down his hand to speak lowly and harshly, "I hope your realize that your little episode possibly attracted unwanted attention! I understand that my… actions… have frightened you, but if you keep shouting, you will get us all killed! Now please, for Primus's sake, pull yourself together!"

Drift waited for Smokescreen to nod before slowly removing his hand. The younger Autobot reset his vocalizer and he slipped an arm between them to point at Drift's hand, his voice obediently lower, but clearly nervous, "Erm… yeah, well, for one thing, I'd feel a _whole_ lot better if you put those away."

The elder mech tilted his head in confusion as he brought up a hand, then realized that the other was referring to his claws that were still very much extended. The Decepticon trait made his fingers a good couple of inches longer, and they were not only pointed, but they extended and curved over slightly at the tips. They resembled talons more than anything, the curves intended to aid Drift or any other Decepticon with them by digging into metal or seams and hooking in. His claws were perfectly adapted for latching onto opponents and tearing them to pieces, as he'd demonstrated to Aiko before.

And even Drift had to admit as he looked at them; they were fragging _scary_.

"Oh," he murmured, and he was quick to retract them, "I'm sorry…"

The deep blue mech stood back and finally gave Smokescreen some space. The tri-colored Autobot dusted himself off and took a cautious look around while he said, "So now that we've had a _lovely_ introduction, I'm gonna assume that you're Drift?"

The samurai nodded while he leaned down, plucked Aiko from the ground, and raised her up to climb onto his shoulder, "And if my memory serves me right, you are Smokescreen, no?"

"The one and only." He replied distractedly, busy tweaking one of his doorwings. Aiko, sitting comfortably on his shoulder, patted the side of his helm, effectively grabbing his attention. He tilted his head towards her in a silent sign that he was listening and she whispered, "Does Smokescreen sound familiar?"

Drift frowned, "Should it?"

"It should," she replied, tapping a finger to his helm, "You're smart. Think about it."

The samurai craned his neck to look at her, and then shifted his optics to the oblivious mech before them without moving his head. He stared pensively at the young Autobot for a bit, searching for the subtle familiarity that he was apparently missing. Eventually, the smaller mech took notice of the staring and he paused his ministrations to his doorwings, "Uh… did I do something weird?"

"Smokescreen…" Drift whispered, looking down in his musings. He exchanged a glance with the human girl on his left shoulder, seeming to finally catch on, then to the younger mech, "You… you were the one who contacted me before."

"Oh yeah, listen, I just told the whole situation to your human." Smokescreen said with a gesture towards Aiko, "So here's what's up-"

"No," Drift interrupted with a shake of his head. Instead, he quickly reached out and grabbed one of the younger mech's arms, yanking him forward. When he resisted with wide cobalt optics, the samurai explained, "Come. Save it for the others to hear."

 _"Others?"_ Both Smokescreen and Aiko said with shocked looks at Drift. The young Autobot's doorwings shot up in surprise, "You mean, you found other Autobots around here?"

"Yes!" Drift snapped, clearly impatient and anxious as he took yet another sweep round the area. He hauled a yelping Smokescreen around into another alley while Aiko held onto the collar of his armor. "We need to hurry, before we are seen."

"Then why not drive there?"

"It may draw attention." Drift answered, pulling an unsure Smokescreen along with him. Aiko looked up at him and did not fail to see the samurai's anxious behavior, like he was nervous about something. She was tempted to ask about the whole "marking" thing, but decided against it. It wasn't important. What was important was that she was safely with Drift, on his shoulder, and that there were other Autobots who Smokescreen could take with back to Monument Valley. Now was ot the time, so the girl chose to stay quiet on the subject until a more appropriate time.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Aiko asked as she watched the deep blue Autobot haul his yelping comrade around a corner.

"I just…" he finally let up on his rushed pace and sighed, allowing Smokescreen to free his arm so that he could rub it. "I need to get out of these alleys…"

"Obviously," the younger mech grumbled, "To use a human term, you look like you've seen a ghost or something."

Drift glanced back at his follower and his reply threw both Smokescreen and Aiko off guard, "You could say that."

The tri-colored mech remained silent and let his wide optics show his surprise. If the samurai noticed his or the girl's expressions, he did not seem to care. He merely beckoned Smokescreen to follow, "Come. I don't want to be out in the open for much longer…"

With that, the trio moved on silently, following Drift to the apparent surviving Autobots. But none of them were aware of the eyes on them from above.

* * *

Bright blue eyes narrowed as they watched a large deep blue Cybertronian and a smaller tri-colored one appear around a corner and walk down a tight alley. A man leaned back from the high building roof he was on and called out to his companion from behind. "Honey, we've got some new ones."

"What?" a matching pair of blue eyes met his own, and a young woman with tan skin and long black hair stood up from where she was rummaging through her bag, "You sure it isn't just Hound or Crosshairs or Jolt? I swear, we bust our asses to keep those fools hidden in that shop and they decide to run around outside."

The older man chuckled briefly and shook his head, "Nope, these are new. Come look, before they leave."

The young woman grabbed her bag and rushed over to the side of the flat roof, cautiously leaning forward to sneak a look. She caught sight of the two surviving Cybertronians, looking over their frames, evaluating anything she'd seen before. Her eyes became wide when she looked at the larger blue one and took notice of what he was holding to his torso. She squinted and struggled to see, but the angle she was looking from prevented her from seeing whatever it was the black and blue one had.

"Look familiar to you, hon?" the man asked.

"Nope," she said, shaking her head, "Never seen them. Must have arrived around the time I got kicked. Wonder who they are…"

The man pointed at the blue one, "Helicopter blades?"

"And swords," the woman whispered, "Looks like a samurai-based 'Bot. Flier, too. Maybe mostly melee because I don't see any long-range weapons. Wait… does he also have tires? Huh… I think he's a triple-changer. I told you what those are, right Dad?"

She looked over to her father, who nodded in reply, "It's a Cybertronian who can change into more than one vehicle, right?"

"You remembered," the woman smiled, then turned her attention to the second smaller Autobot, "The white one has doorwings, probably the same frame type as Bumblebee. Don't know either of them, though."

"Should we go down there?"

"No." she said immediately, "If I don't know them, then they don't know me. They might not be very welcoming to people, you know, like Crosshairs or Hound. They almost squashed us if Jolt and Bee hadn't remembered me, remember? Maybe they'll run into our group, but for now we should just let them go."

The father nodded and the two of them watched as the unfamiliar Autobots disappeared around a corner, out of their sight. The woman's mouth twisted and she shook her head, "They better find cover soon, or someone might see them."

"Let's hope they do," the man said, putting an arm around his daughter's shoulders, "We should split ourselves. Sideswipe's gonna need these welders."

"Right…" she said, and the two of them picked up their heavy bags, stuffed with welding equipment and more supplies. "We're a couple miles out, if we hurry, we'll get back by afternoon."

The man smiled, "I'm proud of you, you know that? Hangin' on while I was stuck in prison. Never would have thought my daughter would be going against the government to help her alien friends. Although, never thought I'd be helping her either."

The woman chuckled and smacked his arm, "Looks like we just can't follow the rules, can we Dad? Come on, let's go."

* * *

"We haven't found any in the past month, sir."

 _"What do you mean, you haven't found any?"_ an angry voice hissed through Savoy's phone, _"You didn't kill them all and I know it. Spread your squads, you'll find more eventually. You better."_

"Yes, sir," Savoy ground out, his patience dwindling. "We can't do much without our asset even if we _did_ find one. We're not supposed to kill because we could damage what he wants from them. Are you ready to tell me why you had him go to KSI headquarters?"

The man on the other line did not respond right away, and Savoy could see the smirk playing upon the other's lips, _"We had a small project. It should help your team effectively take down these atrocious things. I did recall you claiming there was one who fought back and killed some of your men, did it not?"_

"Are you calling my team weak?"

 _"No, I am calling your team reckless and uncoordinated. Mr. Joyce was kind enough to use what our asset offered and develop a little something that will put them down almost instantly. Less destructive than your missiles and yet much more powerful. I am sure you will enjoy using it. Useful when one of your squadrons finds one when my asset is not in the area."_

 _"… All right, sounds interesting…"_ Savoy said, and the man smirked as he walked through a large lab. "I will contact you when the asset is ready to return with this finished project."

The man promptly hung up and beckoned for his guards to keep following. Scientists all over were dressed in white coats, busy KSI members moving all around. The man stopped in front of a table as another man with thick glasses came forward.

"Mr. Attinger," he said.

"Joyce," he replied, eyes locked onto the syringe in the scientist's hand. "Is this the finished product?"

"Indeed," Joyce said, and he handed the syringe to Attinger, who held it up to study the yellow liquid within. As he twisted it between his fingers, Joyce explained enthusiastically, "I introduce to you Syk, a _powerful_ Cybertronian narcotic that your asset was kind enough to supply us with. With his assistance, we have combined the substance with chemicals that will shut down a Transformer's systems instantly."

Attinger nodded, "Will it kill?"

"No, just knock them into a deep stasis and give their processers whirl at most, because it _is_ a heavy drug." Joyce said, "Judging by the information your asset has given us about this substance, I'd say the pure, original Syk is parallel to heroine and other narcotics that our race would use. We have strengthened that "high" impact to knock any Transformer out completely."

"Like a tranquilizer?"

"Similar, yes." Joyce took the syringe back and delicately placed it into a case filled with much more, closing the silver case and handing it to Attinger, "Have the asset outside transport this back to your team."

"Very good," Attinger took the case almost too eagerly, "With this, the Transformers shall no longer stand a chance."

* * *

 **Yuck. Lame filler chapter is lame. Welp, robot heroine is a thing now. Syk IS a canon thing, by the way. If you know G1 Drift, you know that this isn't going to go well for our poor samurai. ;)**

 **The whole "marking" thing I have planned out. I'm not going to overdo it and its not too important, so don't worry for those of you who are picky about that stuff. It'll come in handy later, though.**

 **Looks like Smokescreen is a one-way ticket to safety! But who will be able to reach Monument Valley and who won't? Ooooo, mysteries.**

 **I hope it's got enough good stuff for you guys! ALSO, I screwed Smokescreen's alt mode up- at first I could not, for the life of me, find out what his Prime alt mode was, so I used the car that most closely resembles it which is the Spania. But, after doing a little more research, I finally found that his Prime alt mode was loosely based off of a McLaren.**

 **Would you guys like me to go ahead and switch his alt mode, or do you want to keep my Spania idea for Smokey's alt mode? It's up to you guys. :)**

 **I shall make sure to keep on schedule this time, so PLEASE don't forget to drop a review and yell at me, because I won't blame you, and let me know what you guys thought! I love you all, and I shall see you in two weeks! :)**


	18. Hey, Stranger

**You guys are lucky I'm a dedicated writer.  
**

 **I'm still away, but clever me, managed to upload a massive 16 page file onto my phone and from there, sacrifice some data to post this chapter. I promised to be back right around this time, so I'm going to get a chapter out for you guys, one way or another. I'll be flying back in two weeks so by late - July I'll hopefully work up a schedule again. I've written a total of about 65,000+ words worth in my absence and I'm quite proud of it.**

 **This chapter just. Wouldn't. End. But I decided against splitting it so here's an extra long chapter to make up for maybe another week or so of no updates. I posted this at a freaking restaurant where they had agonizingly slow 3G, so be thankful lol. If I find salvageable signal again, we'll see if I'll manage to push another chapter out.**

 **(Lol, did anyone notice my brainfart in the last Author's Note? For some reason I said I was going to Texas when I'm actually going to Mexico. I'll have to fix that sometime. XC)**

 **I admit this chapter is a little sloppy, and WARNING for a little more language than usual, because I've crammed everybody into one chapter. It was harder to write than I thought. Enjoy!**

* * *

Drift pulled the smaller mech around a couple more streets and alleys until they reached a dead end. He finally released his grip on Smokescreen and approached a large garage door, though not quite tall enough for Drift to go through without ducking. He looked behind him before turning back to look at Aiko. He looked unsure, but the girl knew what he was thinking and placed a hand on the side of his samurai helm, "They don't like humans, do they?"

"That would be the issue…" he replied, throwing the door a dubious look, "I am not sure of their reaction…"

"How many are there?"

"Five," Drift answered, and if not for the dire and risky situation, he would have smiled in amusement at how wide her eyes flew at the revelation. The girl had only seen two Autobots –three if Drift was counted- and it was almost overwhelming for her to grasp that number of Autobots when she'd seen so few. And the samurai would have been happy to introduce her so that she could see the diversity among them… only he feared that she'd get crushed the moment she stepped in.

They could always leave if Aiko was not accepted… it wasn't like Drift himself was very accepted among them. The two of them had survived for this long all on their own, with the exception of their first dear companion, and Drift had no doubt that they could make it just fine as long as they stayed low.

But it was like Jolt had said… they _needed_ to stick together, for they were much stronger in numbers and Autobots are commonly known to perform better when they were with comrades. It was the direct opposite of what Drift had lived with in his time as a Decepticon; they hardly ever cooperated. It was every soldier for themselves, and only the strongest would survive, which was one of the direct reasons why he had become the murderous beast that Deadlock was.

Drift quickly wiped those thoughts out of his processor before they escalated into unwanted memories. He'd relived enough of them already.

Smokescreen came up beside Drift and took one look at the garage door before pointing at it, "What the frag happened here?"

Following his finger, the duo looked at the deep denting on the metal surface. Aiko was surprised, wondering what could have possibly been the cause of the damage while Drift shifted and his optics averted elsewhere. Choosing to ignore the question, he came forward and raised a fist, hesitating briefly, and then knocked on the dented surface. He knocked a handful of times and then stood back. His arm rose like he would do to rub his neck, but instead his hand reached back and cupped Aiko, pressing her towards the side of his helm, like he was expecting these Autobots to lunge the moment they saw her and he was bracing her for it.

Smokescreen looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, there were noises coming from the other side of the garage door. They sounded like shuffling metal, muffled, as though the Autobots had been sitting around and now they were moving around. Upon hearing it, Aiko shifted in Drift's hand, a bit unnerved by him holding her close and the sounds that confirmed the Autobots were indeed in there.

Both of the mechs outside with her grew antsy, shifting on their feet and looking around. They were in the wide open; if any helicopter were to come flying overhead, they'd all be in trouble. After a few agonizing moments, all grew silent, but if one were to listen closely, they could hear the metallic footsteps of an Autobot approaching the door, and then they stopped.

"It's Drift," the samurai said, loud enough for the other side to hear, and then he added almost timidly, "… and company."

The door flew open in an instant, and there stood the smallest Autobot Aiko had ever seen. He hardly even reached Drift's abdomen, he was so small, but his straight stance made him look anything but ashamed of his size. He was a light blue, and similar to Mirage, he had a face mask over his mouth. The small mech's electric blue gaze immediately shot to the tri-colored mech at Drift's side and he snapped back, "Smokey? Primus, you made it out of the base alive?"

"Do I look dead to you? _Puh_ -lease, this is Smokescreen you're looking at." Smokescreen said with a sarcastic tone, causing the light blue Autobot to chuckle. He beckoned to the two of them urgently, either too short to see Aiko on Drift's shoulder cupped in his hand or too oblivious to truly look, "Quickly! Get in here, both of you!"

The two exchanged an unsure glance, but ducked inside with the small Autobot's ushering. The building was dimly lit with some old lights and upon the sight of old car parts on shelves all around and a bunch or car lifts, Aiko figured it to be a repair shop. She peeked over Drift's hand and, surprisingly, saw no other Autobots inside. The thought soon came to her that they must be hiding as a precaution.

Smokescreen took a look around and gave a nod of approval, "So you guys have been hiding in here? Pretty sweet. No one ever comes to this part of the city."

The Autobot shrugged, "Well, it certainly wasn't easy to sneak in here. It's not much, but it's kept us hidden until we can come up with another plan. We never would've been able to make it this far if it weren't for a… very special friend of ours."

"Who?" both Drift and Smokescreen asked, the subject of trying to figure out a safe way to reveal Aiko flying past their processors briefly.

"They've been out for a couple days, but she should be back soon," the light blue mech said, "You'll meet them."

With that, the small mech dismissed the question and instead took notice of Drift's arm that was still up at his neck. He narrowed his optics slightly and gave a short, annoyed sigh, "Don't tell me you've hurt yourself again. What did you do this time?"

"Erm…" the samurai snuck a hesitant look at Smokescreen, who merely shrugged. He turned back to the small mech, "Jolt… where are the others?"

"I told them to hide in the back, you know, just in case." The Autobot apparently named Jolt replied, "Which, I'm surprised that they actually listened to me. Why?"

Drift removed his hand and it fell to his side, revealing the teenage girl sitting uncomfortably on his shoulder. Aiko stared at Jolt just as he stared at her. She cleared her throat in an awkward manner and raised a hand, "Uh… hi?"

Jolt remained still for a moment longer, and then he reacted in a way that was the opposite of what Smokescreen and Drift were expecting. The small Autobot did not get angry or panicky, rather, he looked at the human girl calmly. A little too calmly. Jolt finally switched his gaze up to Drift, "You didn't tell us about this."

"I told you all I had a companion." Drift replied, though he was well aware of how shallow it sounded.

"I thought it was Smokescreen," Jolt said, his voice rising a little more towards Drift's initial expectancy, "Let me clarify; you didn't tell us you had a _human_ companion."

Smokescreen chimed in, thankfully to support the samurai, "To be fair, I probably wouldn't have said anything either. You know, because some of us aren't very happy with humans right now, even if not all of them are bad."

"Holy frag, is that _Smokey_ I hear?"

Before either of them could speak, Aiko's eyes widened as a whole group of Autobots came barging through the doorway behind Jolt. The girl was nearly overwhelmed as the room quickly filled up with many large masses of metal. She looked at them one by one, all with different colored armor and different frame shapes. Once there was a total of six different Autobots, Aiko found herself pressing close to Drift's helm and could only maintain one thought.

 _Damn. That is a lot of Autobots._

Instantly, there were five pairs of blue optics burning into her.

And instantly, there were three of the five of them with gun barrels pointed at Drift's head.

"Drift…" the tall green Autobot hissed with a thick Australian accent, holding what looked to be a Cybertronian sized sniper, "What the actual _fuck_ is this?"

Aiko winced, and somehow hearing an Earth swear from an extraterrestrial made him much more intimidating. But not quite as intimidating as the big fat Autobot with a _whole fucking minigun_ pointed at them. It was a wonder how Drift was standing so calm with the weapon ready to put some holes through him. In fact, Drift's expression made it seem as though this was far from the first time he'd been aimed at. The dark green mech with a beard growled lowly, "Please tell me this is a joke."

"What the frag is _that_ doing here?!" the bright yellow Autobot hissed, his optics cold and furious as they bored into the samurai, "I _knew_ it! The ex-Con's a traitor! He has a human! We should blast his fragging head open!"

Jolt got in between the three unhappy mechs and Drift before they decided to act on the golden one's words. He waved his hands and snapped, "Now wait just a second, all of you! We're in no position to shoot him just because he has a human."

"We don't know that human," the tall green one growled, his icy optics piercing into Aiko.

Smokescreen pushed himself into the situation and commented hesitantly, "I don't know her either, but when I found her out there, she didn't try to run or anything. Just wanted to put that out there…"

Drift gave the tri-colored Autobot a sidelong look before turning back to the others, his voice level and calm as he said, "She is a friend, not a foe."

"What makes you think we'll take the word of a _Decepticon?_ " The golden one snarled, his arms extending into blades, "For all we know, you two could be working with those Cemetery Wind humans! Huh? Is that it? I bet you're the mech that's helping them! I bet you were the fragger who _shot my brother-!"_

"That's enough out of you, Sunstreaker!" Jolt hollered over the yellow Autobot's yelling, "You simply cannot accuse the first new Autobot you see! Drift couldn't have possibly been responsible for Sideswipe's condition."

Sunstreaker looked as though he was contemplating whether or not to rip Jolt's head off, "How do you know that, huh?"

Jolt moved to speak, however it was the tall green mech who surprisingly seemed to side with Drift, "Why don't you just look at him? Drift ain't a damn Wrecker, does he look like he'd be hidin' a fraggin' _missile_ _launcher_ on him? He's never even touched a blaster since he's joined us."

Sunstreaker looked over Drift's frame for a moment and snorted, "Fine. Whatever. Don't tell me he gets to keep that _thing_ with him."

Aiko recoiled at that and she could not restrain herself from glaring back at him, "Excuse me, I'm not a thing-"

"Hush." Drift hissed through clenched dentals, and he put a hand over her to shroud her before she could say anything else that'd get both of them in any more trouble. Sunstreaker's temper was certainly not something Drift wanted to deal with any more than he had to.

"Well she knows about us; we can't just toss her out now." Smokescreen said, and then his entire frame shuddered as he added, "And uh… good luck trying to get in between those two. I wouldn't do it if I were you."

Drift and Aiko frowned at him.

The big fat one finally – _thankfully_ \- lowered his massive mini-gun and sighed, "Smokey's right. S'not like we're in any place to get mad over the samurai bringing a human anyways."

The bright green mech also lowered his weapon, and he reached back and hid his sniper beneath the metallic trench coat that wrapped around his waist, "I'm not likin' this…"

Sunstreaker's stance remained defensive, even as he stood straight. He bored holes into Drift as he growled, "Still don't trust them."

"This girl has risked her life for mine multiple times. She has repaired me when I have been wounded and has not attempted to run or report me in the months we have been together. She will not harm us. I would not have brought her if I did not trust her." Drift said evenly, "I have no motive for bringing harm upon my own comrades."

His words seemed honest enough for the Autobots and they each gave slow nods in understanding. All except Sunstreaker, who looked utterly _disgusted_. When he spoke, Aiko realized it was not her in particular that bothered him… it was _Drift_. "I'm not comrades with a confused Decepticon. You're a fragging _idiot_ if you think you're one of u-"

He was cut off by the round one elbowing him in the abdomen. The tallest one was quick to grab the golden Autobot into a tight headlock with a pistol to his helm. Sunstreaker snarled out curses and writhed in the green mech's grip, but only got as far as choking himself when the arm around his neck only got tighter.

Aiko cringed when she felt Drift's armor flare beneath her. His expression remained neutral and controlled, but the rest of his body language said that he was clearly put off by what Sunstreaker said. The corners of his lip plating twitched, like he was resisting a snarl. The hand around her flexed, like he was resisting the urge to let his claws out.

"Why don't you just shut your fuckin' mouth, for once, huh?" the Australian mech said, pressing the barrel of his blaster harder into Sunstreaker's head. "Drift acts more like a damn Autobot than _you_ do half of the time! He's got a human; get over it. We do too."

That… that had Drift, Smokescreen and Aiko snapping back. The samurai lowered his hand, allowing full view of the girl again. He exchanged a look with Smokescreen and then to the others, "I-I'm sorry… did I hear that correctly?"

"Yup," the fat one said, popping what looked to be some sort of Cybertronian cigar into his mouth, "Saved our asses more times than I could count, too."

"Yeah, but at least we know we can trust the humans _we_ have," Sunstreaker muttered under his breath, trying to swipe the gun off of his head.

"They would be the 'very special friend' I was referring to earlier. They've helped us take shelter here when Sideswipe got hurt and at the moment they are out stocking up on supplies. They should be back soon. You see, we didn't tell you this at first because, well, we were unsure of your views on humans." Jolt said, then he nodded towards Aiko perched on Drift's shoulder, "But it seems there was nothing we had to be too worried about. If anything, you having a human yourself made this much easier to reveal."

Drift nodded, looking as though he was taking all of the information in. The small blue Autobot tilted his head at the girl and crossed his arms, "I suppose we should all get acquainted with each other, shouldn't we? What's your name?"

"Right, ah…" Drift murmured, breaking out of his musings that he apparently fell into. He nodded to the teenager on his shoulder, lowering his hand again to allow her to speak. She hesitated briefly. She was not by any means a shy person, but when it came to a bunch of large alien robots, well that was another story. She cleared her throat silently before speaking boldly, "Aiko. My name is Aiko."

"Aiko?" Sunstreaker murmured, still wriggling in the green Autobot's arm, "Well that's on my list of weird human names."

 _Well it's not my fucking fault that I'm part Chinese_ , Aiko almost bit out.

The green mech jostled Sunstreaker, "Could ya at least _try_ to be noice? For frag's sake, why is that so hard for ya?"

"Oh I don't know… probably because you're _fragging strangling me?!_ "

"Hmm, whose fault is that?" The Australian mech simply grinned and held the smaller mech tighter against him with his pistol at the top of his head, although it was more in a joking manner now rather than threatening.

While the two wrestled around, the small blue mech waved them off, "Please excuse these fools. My name is Jolt, and I specialize in the medical field. Or at least, I _try_ to, with what little I have…"

Jolt then turned to the tall Australian mech who still had yet to release the beyond annoyed mech in his arm, "…That would be Crosshairs. He is one the Autobots' best sharpshooters."

"Damn straight," Crosshairs boasted, standing up straight in pride and causing Sunstreaker to grunt. Aiko found herself smiling slightly at his cockiness and nodded at him before the small medic switched over to the big fat one, who seemed busy puffing on his… cy-gar? "…And this is Hound. He was a former commando of our Wreckers unit."

"Hound, huh?" Aiko said, eyeing his burly, round form and the minigun that he swung over his shoulder. He was easily twice as wide as Drift, or any of the other Autobots in fact. He was the exact definition of _tank_. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was his alternate mode. "Fitting…"

"And that," Drift nodded his head towards the golden Autobot glaring back at him, trying and failing to hide his exasperated tone after the insults thrown at him, "is one of our frontliners, Sunstreaker, as you may have figured out…"

"Call me Sunny or Sunshine or any other stupid fragging name and you're dead, you hear?" he growled, pushing himself out of Crosshairs's grip finally, "I can't believe we're allowing this."

"Allowing what?" Jolt snapped, "Allowing our comrades, our _friends_ to take refuge here? I'm not too happy with the girl either, but I'm not throwing a fit about it. If she's done all that Drift had said, then I don't have a problem with either of them staying."

Sunstreaker snorted and threw another infuriated look that somehow didn't actually burn through Drift's armor, "Yeah, but we don't know where they've been or what they've been doing. We can't just let _anyone_ in anymore. You all remember what happened with _Sentinel_?"

Every Autobot in the room bristled around Drift.

"Exactly." The golden mech said, "How do we know they aren't _spies_ or something? How do we know they didn't make a deal with the _enemy_ -"

"Do _NOT_ ," Crosshairs hissed, taking one threatening step towards Sunstreaker, "bring up Sentinel."

Joly visibly snapped back and asked lowly, "Did you really just say that?"

Hound looked like he was holding himself back from shoving the barrel of one of his guns down Sunstreaker's intake, "What happened with Sentinel's got _nothin'_ to do with this, you fraggin' idiot!"

"Yeah mech, you need to calm yourself," Smokescreen said with wide cobalt optics, "That's… that's a little too far..."

 _Sentinel…_ Aiko thought, _who the hell is Sentinel… and what did he do?_

The girl's thoughts didn't get very far after that. While everyone glared daggers at Sunstreaker about this "Sentinel" topic, Drift's optics had narrowed to a pair of dangerous, piercing slits. It was the first time he looked, for a lack of better words, utterly _pissed_ _off_. His voice was low through his bared fangs, but the tone alone was plenty enough to grab everyone' attention.

" _Smokescreen."_

The young, tri-colored Autobot timidly replied, "Uh… yeah?"

"Hold Aiko."

Aiko stared at the samurai like he grew another head. The other Autobots -excluding Sunstreaker- shrank a little.

No Autobot messed with Drift. That was a fact. Bringing up his past or accusing him or associating him with the enemy was a complete death wish. That was learned firsthand when the samurai first had first joined their faction. Optimus had warned his soldiers to leave him be, but at that time, it landed upon deaf audios.

At least, it did until Drift sent two Wreckers to Ratchet's Med Bay after they made the grave mistake of telling him to put a gun to his own helm. Needless to say that nobody dared to piss off the former Decepticon again, especially when they realized he was capable of trashing Wreckers nearly _twice_ his size.

"What…? You mean like, pick her up-?"

"Just." Drift growled, "Hold. Her."

"Now wait just a sec-" The girl's protest died out with a squeak as Smokescreen hesitantly crept close to the stiff samurai and gingerly plucked her from his shoulder. Aiko squirmed in the young Autobot's hand as he held her to his chest firmly, nervously, watching as the deep blue mech came towards the golden one, "You have a lot of nerve, belittling me with such _preposterous_ accusations!"

Sunstreaker held his ground, optics hard and defiant. The samurai and the frontliner squared off with deadly glares, bared dentals and puffed armor. The golden Autobot stood firm, looking up at the slightly taller blue mech with a furious animosity, "I'm not belittling, I'm being logical! You _conveniently_ show up after all the slag that's happened to us, with a _human_! I never fully trusted you before, Ex-Con, but I sure as hell don't trust you now!"

Drift's fists clenched, like he was suppressing the urge to punch Sunstreaker. He stood over the golden mech, the two of them now inches apart. It was only a matter of time before one of them struck, and the others knew it. Crosshairs quickly came forward, wedging his larger body between them both, but even then, Drift pressed against the sharpshooter and hissed threateningly, "Allow me to clarify something. I can take your insults, as I have dealt with plenty of them in my time as an Autobot. But I left the Decepticons for a reason, and I will _not_ be accused, you insolent-!"

"Aight, that's enough!" Crosshairs growled, pushing the two further apart. Drift gave the green mech one hard look, but eased his tense posture and vented deeply, attempting to regain his calm composure. However, one look at Sunstreaker's hostile leer had his temper flaring again. A temper Drift hadn't had since he was a Decepticon. Deadlock's temper.

He was not even aware that he was growling at the golden mech until he heard his name in a barely audible plea.

"Drift…"

It was said so softly, and yet their sensitive audios managed to catch it. Drift, as well as everyone else, turned to the girl in Smokescreen's hand, who had her eyes trained on the samurai only. Aiko frowned, and she simply shook her head, "Don't…"

 _Don't get angry. Don't lose control._

And because Aiko spoke up, he didn't. Drift looked behind him and met her eyes. They stared at each other for a short moment until the samurai understood her silent message and sighed. He turned back to Sunstreaker, who seemed more curious about what was going on between the girl and the samurai, but still met Drift's optics with a loathsome gaze. Drift frowned at him, but gave no other emotion as he finally yielded and stepped back.

Sunstreaker opened his mouth, but Crosshairs jabbed a finger at him, "Not another fraggin' word from you."

"Guys?"

The new voice drew everyone's attention to the doorway, where yet another Autobot appeared. He looked _exactly_ like Sunstreaker, save for the barely-present silver paintjob and the ugly hole in his abdomen. He struggled on his wheeled feet, his legs wobbly as though it was his first time on them, and hung against the side of the doorway just to keep himself upright. A tight cringe was upon his face plating, but nevertheless he took a curious and slightly confused look around.

 _He must be Sunstreaker's brother…_

"Sideswipe!" Both Jolt and Sunstreaker said, rushing towards the injured mech before he collapsed.

"Primus…" Smokescreen whispered as he came up beside Drift, whose teal optics were wide. The samurai pulled his gaze from Sideswipe and exchanged a glance with the young Autobot before his knowing gaze dropped down to the girl still in his hand. Aiko reluctantly met his gaze only briefly and then looked away.

 _It was too familiar…_

"What did I tell you, Sideswipe?" Jolt said exasperatedly, grabbing the silver mech's side so that he could lay his weight against the small medic. Despite his size, Jolt seemed perfectly capable of holding the unstable twin, "You're not supposed to be moving around."

"You fragging idiot," Sunstreaker growled as he took Sideswipe's other side, but it was hardly an insult with the signs of worry and affection through his tone and optics. Something both Drift and Aiko found _very_ foreign to see out of him, considering his attitude just prior. "What were you thinking?"

Sideswipe grunted before replying, "I-I heard yelling. A _lot_ of yelling. I just wanted to see what the frag was going on…"

"Everything's fine now, Sideswipe." Jolt said with a quick glance at Drift, "We're sorry for worrying you."

Sideswipe seemed to notice Jolt's gaze, and his optics landed upon Smokescreen and Drift. Jolt and Sunstreaker tried to gently move him along to the back, but the silver mech resisted and stared, slack-jawed, "Smokey…?"

Smokescreen smiled. A sad, strained, sympathetic smile, "Hey, Sides…"

"You made it out, huh…?" the silver frontliner said kindly. There was an airy sound to his voice, unnaturally airy. Like it was difficult for him to speak. Difficult for him to breathe. His blue optics were different compared to everyone else's, dark and dim while theirs were bright and vibrant.

 _Just like Mirage…_

Aiko's felt sick with that thought in mind.

Those dim optics then locked onto Aiko for a moment, then up to Drift, and the silver twin tilted his head slightly. The samurai must have had Aiko's train of thought, because his jaw visibly clenched and he slowly looked away. Sideswipe squinted, as if trying hard to remember Drift, but eventually settled with asking, "Uh… who-"

"Doesn't matter right now," Jolt interrupted, "We will explain our… new arrivals later. What matters is that you get back there, now. Off you go. Sunstreaker, why don't you go ahead and take him. I'll… be back there in a bit."

With that, Jolt let go and allowed the golden frontliner to take his brother's weight alone. Both twins hesitated for a moment, but when the small mech waved them off, Sunstreaker murmured to his hurt brother and persuaded him to finally move. Once they disappeared into the back of the shop, Jolt sighed and returned his attention to Drift, "Once again, I have to apologize for Sunstreaker's behavior towards you, Drift. But you have to realize that things have not been… particularly pleasant for us…"

"Oi," Crosshairs spoke up, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "Sunny's always been the more, ah, bitter one of those two. But ever since Sides took that shot, well, he's gotten even worse."

Hound, who had been watching the entire time, finally huffed and said, "His fraggin' brother almost died. I'd be pretty pissy too, to be honest. Ya can't really blame him."

"And I don't," Drift said, his teal optics wandering towards the doorway where the twins left. "But he must realize that there are still some things that he has _no_ right to say. I advise that he watches what he remarks, for both of our sakes."

"Yeah, we got that," Hound said, "But if you're gonna stay with us, you're gonna have to get used to that. Just give him some space for a while. He'll calm down eventually, but could you try your best to not, y'know, kill 'im? Trust me, we all want to sometimes, but again, ya can't really blame the mech."

"Hound is right," Jolt said, frowning, "Sure, he's a little too paranoid, but in the end, all Sunstreaker wants to do is to protect his brother. And he feels like he's failed at that when Sideswipe got nailed by a missile that crippled him. Unfortunately, with his brother at death's grip, our base destroyed, and the race we once protected hunting us, Sunstreaker has a lot of anger and _hate_ in his Spark."

Drift blinked once, but said nothing else. Instead, the samurai looked at Smokescreen, and that was all that was needed for the younger mech to understand. Smokescreen extended his hand, allowing Drift gently take Aiko, who was more than happy to walk into his palm and lean back against his torso when he brought her close.

"Listen, I know that this might not be my business," Aiko spoke, her curiosity getting the better of her, "But… you mentioned that Sideswipe got hit with a missile…"

"Aiko…" Drift murmured, and his hand tensed beneath her. A warning tone, although only she could detect what he was trying to say.

 _Don't bring him up. Don't make me have to explain._

"Yes…?" Jolt nodded slowly, ushering her to go on. The girl hesitated, regarding Drift's tensed frame and her own stiff body. She wanted to ask how it had happened. How they had managed to pull him out of certain death. If he had been sniped just like Mirage did. If he had been running away. If he was going to survive.

"Just… I was wondering if you'd like any help," she finished with a slow breath, "I know my way around parts and wires so, you know, maybe I could help fix him up?"

"Wait, you're a mechanic?" Crosshairs said, uncrossing him arms, "Aight, maybe she's not completely useless to us."

Drift's optics narrowed at the sharpshooter, but it was Aiko who replied, "First off, no, I'm not an actual mechanic, per say… and secondly, weren't you just _defending_ us?"

"I was defending _Drift_ ," Crosshairs testily replied, "Sunstreaker was bein' an asshole as usual, and I'm just generally sick of his shit. We all are. But just 'cause I helped out the samurai doesn't mean I'm happy that he brought _you_."

Aiko frowned, but decided not to reply. A fight had just nearly transpired, and she did not want to provoke another.

"And yet you claim to not like her presence, but have made no complaints about her." Drift said coolly.

"Doesn't matter if I complain or not, you wouldn't understand. You weren't here when shit went down. These fraggin' humans…" Crosshairs leered at Aiko, "You don't know what they've said. What they've done. Not all of 'em are bad, I know, but I ain't about to take chances with ones I don't know. Jus' keep her away from me, and we won't have any problems, ya hear?"

 _Something bad had happened for all of this to have happened_. _For the human government hunting every Cybertronian. For this "N.E.S.T." base's destruction._ Drift thought as he snuck a glance at his comrades, who all harbored a sense of pain and betrayal and _hate_ in their optics, and as he had figured out quite quickly, some showed it more prominently than others. _But no one is willing to tell me what… not even Mirage would…_

"ANYWAYS," Jolt's loud outburst pulled their attention back to him, the small medic clearly wanting to change the subject before things could get heated again, "I appreciate the offer, Aiko, but it is not needed. As I've stated before, we have our long-time human ally helping me with Sideswipe. In fact… they should be back right about-"

 _BANG!_ A door slammed shut rather loudly. New voices could be heard in the back, and then an irritated female voice shouted out, effectively making every Autobot besides Drift cringe, "Alright, which one of you sons of bitches knocked over this shelf?! There's tools and shit _everywhere_ back here!"

"-now…" Jolt finished with a sigh, "It was Sunstreaker!"

The golden frontliner's voice shouted from the back, "He's fragging lying! It was Crosshairs this time!"

"You asshole!" the sharpshooter scoffed, "Stop blamin' me for your fuck ups!"

"I don't care who did it!" The woman's voice got louder the closer she got. A moment later, she came storming into the main area, a woman who seemed to be in her mid to late twenties. Her bright blue eyes were simply fuming, her long black hair a disheveled mess that inferred that she gave up on taking care of it a while ago and instead kept it in a messy ponytail. Behind her, an older man came in a little more tentatively, looking rather amused as she went on, "Someone _please_ explain to me what's so damn hard about being careful, or so help me I'll take out your vocalizers and shove them up every single one of your assh-oh…"

Aiko was not sure what to think of that "oh". The woman said it bluntly, like she was more _disappointed_ with having newcomers rather than surprised. She stared down at the woman and she stared back, Aiko unsure if she should be as just amused as the man by this woman's attitude or just as confused as Smokescreen and Drift, who had raised an optic ridge at each other. Just a few minutes before, they were arguing over Aiko's arrival, but now, she hardly seemed like the issue as soon as these people came in.

"Jesus Christ," the woman growled, "What is with you guys and _kids_? Every goddamn time we're in a crisis, someone's gotta bring a youngster into the mix."

"It wasn't really a group decision…" Hound grumbled, jerking his thumb at Drift. The woman huffed and crossed her arms at the samurai, as if he was anything but new to her. "So _that's_ what you were holding. I was wondering."

Drift's optics widened, "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh God, you've got the Japanese accent and everything."

The woman set her backpack down with a heavy thud, evidence that there was something heavy in it. "Saw you and Doorwings over there outside. I knew you were holding something… didn't expect it to be a kid. Then again, I probably should have…what did you do, hon'? Give the samurai the ol' puppy dog eyes and his Spark crumbled just like that? Tends to happen with these giant teddy bears."

Aiko _shivered_. Teddy bear? No. Drift could be a lot of things, but with claws and teeth and mental instabilities, he was far from being considered anything soft and cuddly. She couldn't see how the others could be either.

"Bring her down, would you? I wanna see her up close," The woman said, beckoning for Drift to put her down. The samurai hesitated, and Smokescreen spoke up, bewildered, "So… am I forever going to be 'Doorwings' to you or are you going to ask who we are?"

"I'd rather not," she replied, "I'm already attached to enough of you fools."

"Then I'll do it for you," Jolt said, "This is Smokescreen, another survivor of the N.E.S.T. bombing, and this is Drift. He… was not a part of N.E.S.T. and I assume he landed sometime after it was taken down. And this is his… unexpected human companion, Aiko."

The woman hissed, "I just said I didn't want to know who they were."

"They are staying with us now. You're not just going to give them ridiculous nicknames and pretend they're not here." Jolt deadpanned.

She merely frowned back, "I could have tried. Too late now, I guess. So, Rift was it? I'm gonna ask again: mind if I see your kid at eye level? Make it easier for me and my neck?"

Drift hesitated once again, not even bothering to correct her on his name. Only when he looked down at Aiko and she nodded at him was when he finally bent down and allowed her to slide off of his palm. The teenager took a deep breath and then walked over to the older woman, who looked her up and down a couple times. "You're just a little thing, aren't you?"

 _Way to pummel on my five foot, three inch height. As if the Autobots degrading me wasn't enough_ , Aiko thought. She found herself more annoyed about it than what was probably necessary.

The woman circled her like a hawk does its prey, examining Aiko as she did so. The girl met eyes with the man who hadn't said anything the entire time, but he simply shrugged at her. It didn't go past her notice that the woman resembled him in the face. Same blue eyes, too. Her attention was yanked back to the woman when she grabbed Aiko's arm, "Muscle tone. Interesting. Do sports in school or something, kiddo?"

"Not even close," Aiko replied, "Kind of a grease monkey, I suppose."

The woman stared at her for a long moment. Slowly, a smile curved her lips and she looked at the man, who was also smiling, and then back to Aiko. She suddenly slung a tan, toned arm around her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze, "Alright, maybe this'll work. I think we're gonna get along just fine, kiddo."

She then turned them both around towards the Autobots and she pointed a finger at the samurai and the tri-colored mech beside him, "Listen up, Smokescream and Rift, 'cause I'm not repeating. Y'all stay, y'all go by my rules. I run this group and I keep the boys in line, you hear? That goes for you two as well. A word of advice; just don't piss me off. Behave, and you two will be golden. Pun intended. You understand?"

Drift just nodded, optics wide in surprise to this woman's bossy, brazen demeanor. She seemed to think of them more as a bunch of reckless younglings who need to be threatened into behaving, rather than a bunch of adult Cybertronians who were more mature than she'd ever be. Smokescreen nodded as well, but his mouth opened, wanting to say something, but ended up closing it instead.

"What? You look like you've got something to say."

"I do, but…" the young Autobot looked around, "…It can wait, I guess."

"'Kay then," the woman turned back to Aiko, "Now that we're all settled here, guess I should give you a name to call me by. I'm Mikaela Banes. Just Mikaela. Call me Miss Banes and someone gets hurt. Makes me feel too old. And this guy here is my old man, Michael Banes. Do him a favor and call him Michael, too. We aren't formal around here."

Aiko nodded slowly.

Mikaela pointed at Drift, "You. To the back. In your alt mode. Now."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, samurai. Get back there."

"May I ask why?"

"Because you look like shit," she snapped, "I see that logo on your chest plate. You are the trashiest Bugatti I've ever seen. Your filthy armor makes me cringe. You're not walking around looking like _that_ in my shop. I've got some heavy duty car soap and afterwards I'll give you a nice waxing to take care of the scratches. Sound good? Doesn't matter. You don't have a choice. So get going! _Shoo!_ "

Drift didn't move.

"For Christ's sake," Mikaela rubbed her forehead with her free hand, "If it makes you feel better, Maiko here-"

" _Aiko."_

"-my bad, Aiko here, can help me pretty you up. Sound like a deal?"

Drift refused to move for another long moment, until he eventually sighed. The samurai rather awkwardly dismissed himself from the main room, giving Aiko one last look before he stepped past them and disappeared through the doorway. The teenager managed a smirk at Mikaela, "I'm impressed. I think you're the only one besides me who can manage to boss him around and get away with it."

"I think he knows I'll fuck him up while he's in recharge to ignore me." The woman grinned evilly, "I've done it to Crosshairs enough."

"She _has_ ," Crosshairs said seriously, "She fraggin' _immobilized_ me one time. I still don't know how she did it, either."

"This has been amusing and all," Jolt said, "But I have to ask if you two found any working welders."

Michael, who finally decided to say something, nodded and slipped off his own backpack, "We sure did. Took a while, though. Maybe now we can help weld that patch onto Sideswipe… depending on how much it takes for Cybertronian metal to melt."

"That's why we're testing this. Hopefully, your man-made welders are hot enough to do the job, since mine are broken." Jolt said, and then looked away with a sad sigh, "If only Ratchet were here…"

"Hey, what did I tell you about bringing yourself down?" Mikaela growled, "Stop it. You're not quite as skilled as he is, yes, but that doesn't mean you're useless. You're doing what you can, and that's what matters."

"Right, right…"

"Hmph," Mikaela grunted, "Well, the kid and I are going to take care of Big Blue. Dad, take my bag for me? Go ahead and help Jolt with Sideswipe. If you really need me then just holler. I want to spend some important quality time with this girl and her 'Bot. The rest of you do whatever, but no peeping or there'll be wrenches in the air."

The woman tossed her bag to her father, who grabbed it and followed Jolt to where the twins were. While they walked out, Mikaela, who was still holding her shoulders, ushered her to the back. Aiko looked back at the rest of the Autobots briefly, who dismissed her and began to talk amongst themselves. Mikaela seemed to notice and whispered into her ear, "Yeah, they seem like a bunch of meanies, but they'll warm up to you. Trust me. They have a weakness for the young ones. That's how I met them."

Aiko's eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

"I'll explain later, kiddo," Mikaela released her and went over to a tub filled with items, "Quick question. You ever given him a wash before?"

"No…" Aiko replied, eyes widening slightly as Mikaela began to comically toss items out, over her shoulder.

"Think he would let you?"

"I'm pretty sure..." The teenager ducked as a screwdriver went for her head.

"Is he a narcissistic like the yellow menace in the back?"

"If he was narcissistic, I don't think he'd be looking like he is."

"Eh. Point made. He wouldn't mind my hands on him, then?"

"As long as you don't hurt him, no."

"Good." Mikaela came back with two buckets, some old sponges and two big bottles of car wax and soap. "He looked real tense. Needs to relax. A nice, warm wash might just do the trick. A little TLC can do wonders for these guys. They may be made of metal, but when it comes to their mental state, well, they're more fragile than you think. They _are_ soldiers in a war, after all. If they don't break outside, they could still break inside."

 _Trust me, I know…_

"That's where a little love and affection comes in handy… for the ones who are willing to accept it," Mikaela had been messing with what Aiko assumed to be the water pump while she talked, "Rift seems like a 'Bot who wouldn't mind it."

"It's Drift."

"Well goddammit," Mikaela said, and Aiko wasn't sure if she said that as an answer or because she found something wrong with the water pump.

Aiko shook her head, "And he doesn't just mind it. He _needs_ it, to keep himself together."

Mikaela grabbed a wrench, "I don't get it. What are you saying, kiddo?"

"I'm saying that, if I hadn't found him when I did, then I think insanity would have instead."

The woman jerked the wrench on whatever she had lodged it on. She looked over her shoulder and stared at Aiko for a long time. After a while, she turned back and yanked the wrench one last time before standing back up and tossing it into the tub. "Well, we've certainly got a lot to talk about, missy. A lot of questions from me and a lot of questions from you. So let's start off simple…"

"Okay…?" Aiko said.

Mikaela grabbed the hose and held it up, "Does Drift mind cold water?"

* * *

 **Yeah, a lot of you guessed who the mystery people were. Mikaela is back and she's back with a vengeance! Her father doesn't say much in this chapter, but that's because I reserved him for the next chapter. We'll go more into his character then. The next few chapters are actually slow and mostly talking, but productive talking. This is when I slow everything down for a bit and tie up the loose ends and things get explained.**

 **It's about time I give your hearts a break, am I right?**

 **I love the long reviews guys! I was surprised to see that I still got reviews for last chapter in the last few days. Your feedback is great! I can't wait to see the reviews on this one, hehe. I'll see you guys soon! :D**


	19. Kept You Waiting, Huh? NEW AN

***Looks at last update date***

 **Hoo boy, where to start…**

 **First off, NEW READERS, THIS IS A STORY BEING OVERHAULED, SO THE STORY WILL BE ALL WACKY AND BROKEN FOR RIGHT NOW UNTIL I GET IT ALL FIXED! Thank you~**

 **First off, yes I'm alive! Second, dear god I know it's been forever, and a simple apology ain't gonna cut it for how long I'm making you guys wait. I know, I'm killing you guys, but here's the good news! Savior is over 80% done with its overhaul, and the reason why I haven't posted new updates on its title is because I decided to stop posting updated chapters one by one and finish the entire story's rewrite and repost the chapters all at once, that way you guys won't be constantly left hanging.**

 **The story right now says I've only gotten up to chapter 9 with an update, but actually I've only got 3 chapters left to redo before Savior is completely overhauled to its current point in the story. I know this is all confusing for you guys. I don't want to type out an entire essay on what I have planned and what I have changed plot/story-wise until *after* I finish the rewriting, so those of you who want a little more info are more than welcome to PM me so I can elaborate.**

 **For now, I just wanted to post something to let you guys know I'm still here, and Savior hasn't been abandoned. The next notification/update alert you guys will get will be me posting a new REAL chapter with a big A/N describing all that's been changed and telling everyone to reread the story completely to see these changes. I think you guys will enjoy this new Savior once I get it out, because I certainly am.**

 **Now, just to treat you guys, here is a small sneak peek at an overhauled scene wayyy back in Chapter 10. Here, you guys get to see my new and improved writing compared to the old version of this scene**

 **(Speaking of sneak peeks, those of you who were around to see the two that I posted a LOOONG time ago can breathe a sigh of relief. Those scenes no longer apply to the new Savior I'm coming out with soon, so you have not been spoiled, and now have no idea what I have in store. Hehe.)**

 **Anyways, enjoy, and again thank you guys SO much or your incredible patience!**

 **(NOTE: This A/N will be deleted and replaced once rewrite is complete.)**

 _Chapter 10 Rewritten – Never Too Late_

"I'm sorry-"

"I apologize-"

The unison startled them both. Aiko tore her eyes away from the pistol and finally made eye contact. Drift hesitated, as if unsure of who should go first, and slowly descended to the ground. Using a katana as a heavy support, he managed to kneel on his one good leg, his movements tender and stiff. Once he was situated as comfortably as he possibly could, Aiko cleared her throat. "I'm sorry… I know I shouldn't really be mad at you. You've… been through a lot. We all have. And… I get it. You want to protect me. It's flattering Drift, but not being close to you doesn't make me feel any safer. I hope you know that."

"I understand," Drift said quietly, his voice sounding heavier than usual. "I have said this before, but I will say I again. I will _never_ harm you Aiko, for you have never in our time put harm upon me…"

Aiko nodded slowly, and Drift went on, "But… there are some… some things about me that you do not know. And though I can swear to you on my very spark that I will not hurt you with intent… I fear that something will happen. Something… beyond my control."

The image of Mirage clawing at Drift's hands on his neck flashed through her mind. Aiko felt a lump form in her throat.

"It terrifies me, Aiko," The samurai said, shaking his head, his voice cracking, "My worst fear, is losing someone without being able to save them. I have lost so many whom I truly cared about because of situations that were out of my control. There was nothing I could have done differently to change what had happened to them, and I refuse to let it happen again. That is why I tried to push you away, Aiko. I am afraid of losing you because of being unable to save you."

Aiko didn't know what to say to that, so she nodded in understanding. She supposed that made sense to her. Drift had clearly seen and experienced some extreme things in his long life. Essentially, he was as much of a damaged and lonely being as she as. Being close only caused him the pain of loss, so in his head, pushing away would spare him that.

"I am sorry, Aiko," he said softly, his voice and his field letting her know that it was a true, legitimate apology. "I do not expect forgiveness, but I will promise you that I will not intentionally keep you away any longer. It only caused you pain and… I will admit that it did for me as well."

"Why does it sound like someone talked some sense into you?" Aiko asked. Drift saw the hint of amusement in her eyes and knew what she was doing. She was trying to lighten up the mood, and Drift was more than willing to let her do just that. His lip plating quirked up a bit and he replied with a light laugh in his voice, "Mirage may have, ah, voiced his thoughts to me, yes."

The girl smiled back slightly, "Well, I'm glad he did."

"So am I," Drift said. He looked down at her hands for a moment, his face becoming concerned and a tad bit confused, "Well, now that we have talked that out… may I ask you something?"

"Shoot." She replied with a shrug.

"Ironic that you say that. Why are you holding the gun?"

"Oh…" Aiko's eyes shot down to her hands, somehow completely forgetting that she was still holding the pistol. She shifted on her feet, "Just… practicing."

"It's not loaded."

"…Practicing my aim."

"I was under the impression that you were afraid of it."

"I am," she answered, staring down at it and fingering the barrel, "That's why I have it. Just… doing the whole 'facing your fears' thing, you know?"

Drift frowned, looking entirely unconvinced by her answer. Aiko decided to give up trying to make up anything else and instead sighed, shoving the weapon back into a pocket in her bag beside her. She heard Drift move around behind her. Returning her attention to him, she saw that he had sat himself on both knees.

Drift reached out towards her gently, his bright blue optics earnest and hopeful, "Are we… okay?"

The girl took a moment to stare at his open hand before stepping towards him and placing her own hand to his index finger, giving him a small smile and a nod, "Yeah… we're okay."

She started to pull away, but was surprised when Drift's hand moved, and suddenly, he was caressing her delicate face with his thumb, similar to how Mirage did. Only this time, she felt a wave of something she couldn't describe washing over her, and felt something jump within her. She felt compelled to lean the side of her face into his warm touch, not realizing just how desperately she had been craving Drift's attention until that very moment.

"I... I truly do care for you, Aiko," Drift admitted softly. She saw a new sparkle in his piercing optics that she had never seen out of him before, "More than you think I do…"


End file.
